


New Megaman Battle Network: The Dimensional Core

by TheSoundDefense



Series: New Megaman Battle Network [3]
Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26453887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSoundDefense/pseuds/TheSoundDefense
Summary: A foe from Lan and Megaman's past has returned, more powerful and dangerous than ever. Lan, his family and his friends are now in a race against time, to stop this being from obtaining a new technology that could spell disaster for Electopia and beyond.A complete reimagining of the universe and stories of the Megaman Battle Network series. Content warnings will be applied at the top of each chapter, as appropriate.(If you read this on another site, I'm rewriting the whole thing, chapter by chapter. Take a look!)
Series: New Megaman Battle Network [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1525745
Kudos: 8





	1. Rise From the Ashes

"You're staying another day?"

Lan nodded, looking up into his PET, his mother's concerned face on the screen. "Two more, really, I guess. One and a half?" He was lying on the bed in his hotel room, which he had returned to not ten minutes ago; his belongings remained where he had left them, scattered around in a disorganized fashion. The bedside clock read 8:13 p.m.

"I thought you were going to be home tonight. What changed? Is everyone else staying there?"

"No, it's just me," he replied. "Princess Pride asked for my help with something. You know how Sharo's main Net City suddenly disappeared yesterday?"

Haruka nodded. "Yes, I heard about that from your father. What about it?"

"Well, earlier today, apparently the same thing happened in Benalex. Their capital Net City is gone, too. Now they're worried that something is going to happen to Cream Square tomorrow."

"Hm, that makes sense," his mother responded. The three nations of Sharo, Benalex and Creamland were nearly on a straight line. "So why did they ask you to stay?"

"Well, they've been patrolling the square for most of the day, and the Princess asked me and Megaman to help out," he explained. "We'll be doing it tomorrow, too."

"They just want help patrolling the square?" Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Why do they want you for that?"

"Gee, thanks," Lan responded. "Not like I just saved them or anything."

She shook her head. "That's not what I mean. If they need help defending Cream Square, wouldn't they have asked for help from more people? And if one is all they need, why did she ask you instead of Chaud, a trained Official?"

"I'm... well... not sure, honestly," Lan answered, half-truthfully. He neglected to mention how Princess Pride had also invited Lan to dine with her, and the brief castle tour that followed, with the two of them talking animatedly the whole time. As far as Lan could tell, the princess was just being appreciative; she did seem to enjoy his company, though, and he certainly enjoyed hers. He was hesitant to mention this to his mother, who would definitely read too far into it.

"Well, whatever their reason, I'm sure it's a good one," Haruka replied. "So you'll be home on Thursday, then?"

Lan nodded. "I should be, if nothing changes."

"Try to enjoy yourself while you're there, at least. It's not often you get to travel to another country, after all."

"Will do." He smiled back at her. "I'll see you both on Thursday, alright?"

"See you then, sweetie. Take care." They both hung up, and Lan lay back on the bed once again, putting his PET on the bedside table and thinking to himself.

"What do you think we're supposed to be looking for, anyway?" Megaman piped up, after a few seconds.

"Oh... uh..." Lan snapped out of a minor reverie. "I have no idea... what could be strong enough to destroy an entire Net City, with no warning or anything? I don't think even the Cybeasts could do that..."

"It may not be a thing... maybe there's something wrong with the Net itself," his Navi offered. "Maybe it was some fatal network error."

"That's a really fatal error." He glanced back toward his PET. "And in two different Net Cities, a day apart?"

Megaman frowned. "Yeah... it does sound pretty unlikely."

Lan yawned and started to stretch his arms, abruptly stopping as pain briefly shot through him. "Agh..." He quickly retracted his arms, grabbing his injured ribs for a moment. "Ugh... let's just worry about that tomorrow. It's been a long enough day as it is." He slowly slid off his bed, walking gingerly toward his suitcase.

"Sure has," Megaman answered, as his operator carefully changed into his pajamas. "Let's get some rest. We can worry about what's happening when we come across it."

"Sounds good." Lan slipped under the covers and turned off the light, muttering a goodnight to his Navi before falling asleep.

* * *

The next day, Megaman found himself walking the streets of Cream Square for the second time, accompanied by a generic orange Official Navi. They had been patrolling for hours, finding absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, and everyone involved was beginning to grow a bit annoyed with the search.

"I don't even know what we're supposed to be looking for," Megaman commented, as they turned a corner. "I've never been here before, so everything looks new to me. How am I supposed to find anything?"

"Just look for anything suspicious," the Official Navi recommended. "Though we probably won't have to look much longer. The day is nearly done, and both Benalex and Sharo were attacked in the early morning. Perhaps it was just a coincidence."

"I doubt it, but... maybe." Megaman frowned as they continued forward, part of him wishing that there was some monster destroying parts of the Net, just so the mystery could be resolved. His thoughts were interrupted by a series of short beeps emanating from his companion; he quickly glanced over, as the Official Navi raised his hand, creating a small information screen.

"What's that?"

"It's a security alert," the Official replied. "It's set up to notify us whenever anyone accesses any critical pieces of infrastructure."

Megaman's eyes shot open. "Is someone breaking into something?!"

"No, that would have been a much louder alert. This was an authorized access into the castle. They happen fairly often." The Navi tapped the screen in the corner, causing it to go away. "It's not the first one I've gotten today. Not worth troubling ourselves over."

"Alright, if you say so." Megaman looked forward once again, starting to grow weary. "The day's nearly over. If we don't find anything in this next sweep, I don't think we're going to find anything at all."

"Let's keep our eyes peeled, in any case." The two continued patrolling, ignoring the looks from confused and curious passersby.

* * *

Inside the castle Cyberworld, a number of Official Navis were standing guard, their alertness waning as the day dragged on. With every alert that turned out to be nothing of interest, their energy and enthusiasm had drained further from them, leaving them less engaged and less invested. Several of them were discussing the causes of the destruction in Sharo and Benalex, and some of them had started to place wagers on when they would be called back.

In their half-alert states, none of them noticed the strange presence in their midst, passing by them completely undetected. It was just barely possible to realize something was amiss if one was paying attention, but none of the guards currently on duty paid the slight visual changes around them any mind. The presence carefully maneuvered its way through the guards, traveling deeper into the castle Cyberworld, with none of the Official Navis any the wiser.

Stepping into a long, unguarded hallway, the figure carefully scanned the space in front of it. There wasn't a single guard to be found, or even any sort of camera or sensor. It issued an amused snort.

"I don't know why I was expecting more thorough security," it spoke in a deep male voice, under its breath. "It seems that the same cabal of idiots is in charge everywhere I go."

He continued traveling through the hallways of the Cyberworld, nearly invisible and inaudible, periodically referring to a digital map he was bringing up in his right hand. After several minutes, he came across a large, tightly-locked door, with a security panel to one side. The figure reached out and held his invisible hand over the panel, which started to glow with a weak light. Seven seconds later, the panel flashed an image of an Official Creamland Navi, hoodwinked into believing this was the Navi currently trying to enter. The door slowly unlocked itself and opened up, revealing a room filled with various scientific devices and untested technology.

"Too easy," the presence muttered as he walked forward into the room, the door slamming shut behind him. As he took in the bounty before him, he could feel the Invisible and Air Shoes chips that had cloaked him deactivating, his disguise falling away. "Now let's see what Creamland has to offer."

* * *

Several minutes later, Megaman and the Official beside him were finishing one last sweep of Cream Square. After yet another pass with nothing suspicious jumping out at them, both he and his operator had nearly run out of patience for this fruitless exercise.

"I think we're done here," he spoke, the buster on his arm disappearing. "We're not going to find anything here. Whatever happened in those other two countries, I don't think it's going to be happening in Creamland."

"I agree," the Official responded, coming to a stop. "A critical network failure is looking more and more likely. We should tell the science divisions in Sharo and-" He stopped himself as a beeping sound came from his arm once again, though a different one than had accompanied the security alert. He raised his hand and formed a small screen in front of him, to find a human scientist looking back at him.

"21O, report in. What have you found?"

"Absolutely nothing," the Navi answered. "Over a dozen sweeps and we have nothing to report."

"A dozen sweeps?" The scientist peered through the screen, a confused look on his face. "Wait, what are you doing back outside?"

"Back outside?" Megaman turned to watched the conversation as the Navi responded. "I haven't been inside all day. Megaman and I have been patrolling."

"That's... but you just accessed the Secure Research Center in Creamland Castle, a few minutes ago." The color started to drain from the scientist's face. "That was you accessing it, right?"

The Official Navi froze for a moment, stunned and instantly fearful, before reaching out and tapping away at the screen in front of him, bringing up the previous security alert he had discarded. As Megaman walked to his other side to get a good look at the screen, they both saw the face and name of 21O in front of them, as the Navi who had allegedly entered the castle a few minutes ago.

Springing into action, the Navi started running in the direction of the castle, hanging up on the scientist and bringing up a different screen, shouting into it. "There's an intruder in the castle Cyberworld right now! Get everyone to the Secure Research Center as fast as possible!" Megaman ran after the Official, adrenaline coursing through him, eager to see some action and put a stop to this intrusion.

* * *

A piercing alarm rent the air of the Creamland Castle Cyberworld, clearly audible even within the depths of the Secure Research Center. The Navi inside didn't bother to glance up from the device he was inspecting, sighing.

"Time's up already... disappointing." He crushed the device in his hand, sparks flying out of it, as he heard the sound of a dozen Navis running and shouting, closing in on his location. "Oh, well. The real prize is elsewhere, anyway." He walked calmly to the center of the room, facing the door, waiting.

On the other side, a crowd of Official Navis had formed outside the door, weapons out, ready to accost whoever was inside. Megaman and 21O ran in just as one of the Navis in front managed to unlock the door, which began to whir and hum. As soon as the door began to open, an explosion from within blasted it out of the wall, sending it flying into the crowd of Navis, along with an enormous cloud of smoke.

Megaman used his arm to shield his eyes from the smoke, trying to peer through it and see who was responsible for the explosion. As he squinted, he saw two large purple wheels of energy zooming outward, curving in large arcs as they cut through the crowd of Navis ahead of him. He yelped and jumped backward, asking for and quickly receiving a Barrier, which arrived just in time to barely deflect one of the two energy wheels. He caught his breath as he watched the energy cleanly bisect all the Official Navis in front of him, their detached halves collapsing to the ground before dissolving away into deletion.

As the smoke cleared, he cautiously took a couple steps forward, the figure inside starting to come into clear view. A vague silhouette gave way to a more detailed image, and Megaman's breath caught in his throat as he realized exactly who he was looking at. He recognized the figure immediately, from the two large fins on either side of his head, to the black color of his frame, to the tattered cloak wrapped around his body. He could see that the Navi clearly recognized him, as well.

"Hm. I suppose I was naive to think I was finished with you," Bass spoke, his voice flat and emotionless. "Clearly, fate has decided that our two destinies are intertwined still."

"You!" Megaman called out, running forward, too shocked to think to pull out a weapon. "What are you-" The other Navi quickly lifted his arm, firing off an Air Shot and knocking Megaman backwards to the ground.

"I was simply conducting some research, until you all came along and interrupted me." Bass floated forward slowly, hovering a few inches off the ground.

"You know that's not what I mean!" Megaman sat up and aimed his buster at his advancing foe, firing off several shots. He expected them to be dodged easily, just needing to buy himself a moment to get back to his feet. Instead of dodging, however, Bass merely swatted the energy blasts away with one hand, sending them careening into the walls.

"Of course not." Bass continued to advance, as Lan's Navi scrambled to his feet. "You don't want to know why I'm here. You want to know why I'm anywhere."

"I... yes!" Megaman extended his arm as he received a sword, running forward and swiping away at his enemy. "How... did you... survive?!"

Bass dodged all of the sword attacks effortlessly, moving fluidly about as if he was air. "I survived the same way all of Den City survived. Once Alpha was destroyed, I found myself back in the greater Net... though not quite the same way I was before."

"What do you mean by that?" Megaman extended his other arm to receive a Wide Sword, trying once again to deliver a blow to his opponent, to no avail. "Where have you been the past three months?! Why won't you attack me?!"

"Attacking you would be a waste of energy," Bass responded, backing away. "Like reaching out to swat a harmless insect."

Megaman growled, trying to force his anger back down. "I'll show you harmless, you..." Receiving one more Battlechip from Lan, he brought his hands together to his side, forming the powerful Life Sword Program Advance. Letting out a cry, he swung the mighty blade out horizontally in front of him, the wave of energy zooming quickly toward his foe.

He watched the attack approach, expecting Bass to attempt to dodge once again, but his opponent remained perfectly still, not looking worried in the slightest. Just before the attack connected, a translucent black sphere formed around him, dissipating the Life Sword immediately upon contact. Megaman goggled as the sphere faded, leaving an unscathed Bass behind.

"What... how..."

"Do you see now?" the black Navi asked. "Are you realizing just how outclassed you are?"

As Megaman stared in shock, he realized there was something markedly different about the Navi currently in front of him. His body was no longer the solid black color that he remembered; instead, his skin was a dark black-blue, jagged, as if made up of thousands of tiny squares. Megaman quickly recalled where he had seen this before. "Your frame... it looks like Gospel's...!"

"Surprisingly perceptive." Bass raised one of his arms, letting his other hand run along it, feeling the roughness of his body. "Somehow, while I was trapped inside of Alpha, my body managed to combine with Gospel's. I was none too pleased at first... but I soon learned to appreciate the finer points of being part virus."

The dark sphere returned, crackling slightly with energy. "Did you know that viral beings have an uncanny ability to corrupt the world around them? Not just the Net itself, but systems, Navis, even attacks and techniques... all it takes is a little creativity, and a viral being could have all kinds of powers at its disposal."

The sphere continued to crackle threateningly, and it even seemed as if it was growing slightly. "Take this Dark Aura of mine, for instance. Normally, it would serve only to protect me from weaker attacks. With my newfound abilities, however, I have turned it into a powerful agent of destruction, obliterating anything it touches. In an instant, I can destroy Navis, computers, or even an entire Net City!"

As Bass focused himself, the sphere began to grow more rapidly. Megaman watched as it reached the floor of the hallway they were battling in, and the material immediately disintegrated as it came in contact with the Aura. He gasped and started to back away as the sphere grew more quickly, consuming the ceiling and the walls, threatening to destroy him as well.

"Hear me well, Megaman, and take my message back to those Electopian dogs," Bass called out. "This is a declaration of war, against the entire human race. I will make your entire civilization crumble, and all of you traitorous wretches will pay for what you have done to me. If anyone thinks they can stop me, I welcome them to try."

"Why are you doing this?!" Megaman yelled back, as the Aura advanced on him. "Bass, you don't-"

"Bass is dead!" his opponent interrupted angrily, showing emotion for the first time. "Bass was a foolish slave to the humans, and he has been cast aside! I have been reborn, as the force that will cleanse this planet of its corrupting influence!"

His eyes narrowed, as a smirk dared to cross his face. "I am Forte... and soon, this entire world will fear my name!"

The Dark Aura suddenly shot outward, consuming everything it touched, the Creamland Castle Cyberworld being obliterated from the inside out. Just before the aura reached Megaman's body, he vanished upward in a beam of light, having been jacked out. The Navi continued, undeterred, expanding his Dark Aura out in every direction, reaching all the way out to the edges of Cream Square, until nothing but ash remained.

* * *

"I suppose there was nothing we could have done, in the end." The next day, Princess Pride was walking with Lan to the entrance of Creamland Castle, after a formal debriefing of what had occurred in Cream Square. "If this Navi really was that powerful, we should be thankful he didn't decide to do more damage."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help," Lan offered. He was partly angry with himself for being so ineffective in yesterday's battle, but against the strength he had seen, he wasn't sure what he could have done.

"Don't be silly. You've done more than enough for us already," the princess responded, smiling and poking at Lan's medal. "Any permanent damage was averted by you and Chaud. It'll be troublesome to sort out, but we can restore Cream Square within a month's time."

"That's good to hear. Let me know how that goes."

"I'll be in touch." They stopped in front of the entrance, where a shuttle was waiting to take Lan to his hotel, then to the airport. "It's unfortunate you can't stay longer, but I understand why you have to go."

He nodded. "Yeah... Forte will be waiting for us in Electopia, I'm sure of it. I need to get back as soon as I can."

"Of course." Princess Pride gave him a formal curtsy. "Thank you once again, for everything. Remember that you are always welcome here in Creamland. I'll be waiting to welcome you, should you ever want to return."

Lan smiled and bowed back before waving goodbye, exiting the castle and climbing into the shuttle. Getting into his seat and looking out the window, he could see the princess smiling at him, watching him leave. For a minute, he thought he saw something more than admiration in her smile, causing him to blush, but he decided he was reading too much into things. He tried his best to put it out of his mind, as the shuttle started off for the hotel. He would be back in Electopia later that day, and he needed to be prepared for the foe that would surely await him there.


	2. Forte's Shadow

Dr. Hikari walked into his large SciLab office, a mug of hot coffee in his hand, which he took small sips from as he proceeded toward his computer. He pulled out his chair and took a seat, typing away expertly with one hand as he held his mug in the other. With a little time to spare before he had to start working, he was doing the same thing he had done each morning for the past three weeks: try to find out what had happened. More specifically, he was trying to find out why nothing had happened.

As soon as Lan returned from Creamland, he had gone to SciLab to see what was being done in anticipation of Forte's arrival. Den Net City had been evacuated, under the guise of emergency maintenance, and a number of security measures had been introduced to try and detect, or stall, Forte's arrival. SciLab had developed devices that they had hoped would neutralize his black aura once he arrived, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Lan and Megaman had been prepared to step in and assist around the time of his arrival, after going home to get a good night's sleep.

After all their preparation, they set their traps and lay patiently in wait for Forte's assault; by the end of the day, however, nothing had come at all. They waited for another day, and another, but after nearly a week of "emergency maintenance", there hadn't been the slightest disruption in Den Net City, or anywhere in Electopia that they could detect. After all of Forte's talk, he was nowhere to be found. They had no choice except to reopen the cyber metropolis, while still keeping a number of the security measures in place.

For the next few weeks, all remained calm, and life returned to normal for the most part. Lan recovered from his injuries and began the sixth grade with his friends, and celebrated his twelfth birthday shortly thereafter. Dr. Lucius Regal had spent several weeks being treated for physical and psychological damage; after being a prisoner in his own body for fifteen years, adjusting to a normal life had been more difficult than he anticipated. He freely divulged all of the information that he had on Nebula, as well, which had been a substantial boon to Electopia's cybercrime prevention efforts. Finally, a mere two days ago, he had returned to work at SciLab with his old colleague.

While most of the people he knew had regained their calm, Dr. Hikari had not. Rather than relax, he had merely grown more cautious, and had been spending a portion of his time looking for answers. For weeks, he had been scoping out various parts of Electopia's network, trying to locate any damage Forte may have inflicted, any traps he may have set; every time, he had come up clean. Thus, unable to find any clues in the present, he decided to look for them in the past.

He skillfully navigated a SciLab database as he drank his coffee, looking for what information he could find on his new adversary. Before too long, he managed to find the file he was looking for and opened it, the word "Bass" showed up on his screen in large letters above the text. He looked at it and thought to himself for a second, before leaning forward and typing away; when he was done, the file read "Bass/Forte". Satisfied, he leaned back again and began to read.

* * *

"Ugh..." Lan groaned and rolled over in his bed, exhausted but unable to sleep, the sunlight shining through his blinds not helping. He curled up in the blankets, his stomach upset and his head pounding. "Gah, it's no use. I can't sleep..."

"I'm sorry, Lan," Megaman offered from the PET on the bedside table. "If a human virus is anything like a computer virus, that must be pretty rough."

Lan chuckled. "Yeah, feels like I've got Mettools digging in my stomach. Urgh..." He rolled over on his back again, trying to get comfortable. "Of all the days to get sick, it had to be a day where I actually wanted to be at school."

"What were you guys supposed to be doing? You certainly seemed excited yesterday."

"It was a field trip to SciLab," he answered. "We were gonna go and take a look at all the new technology they're allowed to show us."

"That does sound fun," his Navi responded. "Your dad can tell you all about it, though, can't he?"

"Dad's always wrapped up in his own work. He doesn't pay attention to all the other things going on there."

Megaman shrugged. "Well, I'm sure Mayl or Dex will tell you about it once school lets out."

"Yeah, and they're probably going to brag about it or something." Lan thought to himself for a minute. "Though maybe there's a way I can find out earlier..." He reached over and grabbed his PET, as Megaman smirked.

"Let me guess, you want me to get into the SciLab network and show you what they're doing?" Lan nodded, and his Navi smiled. "Sure, why not. I was starting to get bored, anyway."

Lan stood up and walked over to his computer, pulling out his PET's jack-in cable and plugging it in; he walked backward from there, running the cable back over to his bed and lying down. "Be careful getting in there, okay?"

Megaman laughed. "I'll be fine. It's not like this is the first time you've had me sneak into SciLab." He grinned as he left Lan's PET, heading into the wider Net.

* * *

_Bass originally came into existence under unusual circumstances. His complete frame was synthesized during a SciLab experiment that took place on September 5, 2069, regarding the combination of EM waves and normal network structures. Upon his arrival, the Navi had no data regarding his past or his identity, as if his memory had been erased. His sudden creation remains a mystery, as all scientists involved in the experiment concluded that his frame could not have been constructed from any combination of elements that were used in the original experiment._

_The supervising scientists decided to run experiments on the Navi to determine its origin and construction, but attempts to collect him for this purpose proved disastrous, as he dispatched a squad of Official Navis with little to no difficulty before retreating deeper into the SciLab computers. After an emergency meeting to determine what course of action to take, Dr. Mikhail Sergeyevich Cossack, director of the Navigator Research Lab, agreed to take Bass into his charge; further experiments involving EM waves were put on hold indefinitely awaiting the full results of Cossack's analysis._

_Over the next 71 days, Dr. Cossack conducted a series of experiments designed to measure Bass's capabilities, with extraordinary results. His strength was leaps and bounds above any Navi SciLab had managed to produce, but more impressive was its cognitive abilities and artificial intelligence, which seemed to be roughly equivalent to that of the human brain. Both of these factors were studied vigorously by Dr. Cossack, and the results of his analyses were applied to future generations of Navis, improving their strength and autonomy. With the influence of Bass, Navi research expanded greatly during this period, notably the research of Dr. Yuichiro Hikari and Dr. Lucius Regal. Net technology was put on hold at this time, and EM wave research was scrapped entirely for the next 13 years._

_Dr. Cossack devoted his research to developing Bass's cognitive abilities to their fullest. He worked to develop Bass's moral compass, wanting to observe the extent of his mental faculties; continual reports suggested that Bass's intelligence was equivalent to a human's, though he had a naturally violent disposition. 33 days into his observations, Cossack created a mechanism which allowed Bass to acquire and duplicate the abilities of Navis or other machines that he came into contact with, named the "Get Ability" program. Cossack felt that this would encourage Bass to develop his problem-solving skills._

_After 71 days, the experiment stage ended abruptly when Dr. Cossack suddenly handed Bass over to the Electopian military, for the purpose of weapons testing and simulation. Cossack left SciLab shortly thereafter, and would later develop Navi Customizer technology for the IPC Corporation. Bass would remain with the military for the next three months, until the appearance of the two Cybeasts, Gregar and Falzar._

* * *

"Nearly through... and... there, I'm in."

Several minutes later, Megaman had managed to negotiate his way into the SciLab network, through a back door he and Lan had found months ago. Lan insisted that he would tell his father about the security hole soon, but he had failed to do so thus far, part of him not wanting it to be patched.

Lan grinned, watching from his PET. "Good work, Mega."

His Navi took a few steps forward. "Now let's see if we can-"

His thought was interrupted by the piercing sound of an alarm, seeming to surround him. He jumped, reflexively brandishing his Mega Buster before realizing it was a bad idea to be armed when security arrived, putting it away again.

"We have an intruder in the SciLab network," a female voice spoke, coming from all around. "Engaging security protocols."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lan exclaimed, panicking a bit. "What's going on?! Why is there an alarm all of a sudden?!"

Megaman groaned, recognizing the voice, as the alarm started to fade. "I know exactly what's going on..." He kept his eyes forward, as a figure began to appear in front of him, from the ground up. He watched as a pair of feet formed out of nowhere, followed by a corresponding pair of legs. A couple of seconds later, he was face-to-face with a familiar female Navi, with long brown hair and a flowing pink dress.

"We'll have to notify Dr. Hikari about this intrusion, I think," the girl spoke.

Megaman was unfazed by the empty threat. "Hello, Iris."

"Why are you sneaking into SciLab through back doors, Megaman?" Iris stepped closer. "Does it have anything to do with the schoolchildren they're leading through the halls right now?"

"Those are Lan's classmates. He was supposed to go with them on a field trip, but he got sick, so..."

"So he sent you to see what they were up to." She gave a slightly amused smirk. "And here I thought you might have come to visit me. It's been almost a week and a half, you know."

"I know, I know..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry... it gets harder to stop by with school in session and all that. Lan needs me around more."

She nodded back. "Yes, I understand. It just gets tiresome interacting with nobody but scientists all the time. They're all so stuffy."

He grinned a bit. "I'll tell Lan to have us come by this weekend, I promise."

"Good." She smiled back at him, before starting to turn away. "Follow me. I'll show you where the children are now."

"Thanks, Iris." He started to follow her, both of them moving at a brisk pace. "So... you're probably going to tell the security team about that back door we used, huh...?"

She glanced back at him. "I wouldn't be a very good security system if I didn't."

Megaman nodded, smiling, as the two of them traveled through the SciLab network. Over the past month since the defeat of the Cybeasts, he had watched Iris slowly come out of her shell as she took over more functions of the SciLab OS, interacting with the scientists on a daily basis. She was still soft-spoken and not very energetic, but she had turned out to be quite friendly and outgoing with nearly everyone, Megaman especially. He didn't say it out loud, but he was proud of her for the progress she had made.

He looked around absentmindedly as they walked, always curious as to what was happening in SciLab, whether he was supposed to be seeing it or not. Machines hummed and whirred all around them, processing who knows what; each machine had an equal chance of either discovering the newest scientific breakthrough, or processing the thousandth email about proper use of reply-all. As he looked around, he blinked and stopped in his tracks as something caught his eye.

"Huh?" He turned and looked at a large empty space in front of him, as Iris turned around.

"What is it, Megaman?"

"I thought I saw something..." He kept examining the empty space, confused. For a split second, he thought he had seen a large, glowing machine surrounded by Navis all scurrying about, but it had disappeared as soon as he laid eyes on it. Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

"There's nothing in that space," Iris responded. "That's reserved for a future project."

Megaman wasn't convinced. "Just one second, I want to see..." He ran forward toward the strange apparition he had seen, needing to sate his curiosity and wanting to do so quickly. As he ran, he gasped and skidded to a step as the glowing machine appeared in front of him once again, not disappearing this time. It looked like some sort of dome, glowing with a rainbow light from some unknown source, with a handful of Navis working on it near its base; none of them had noticed his arrival, as he was still roughly a hundred meters away.

"What the..." He stared at it for a moment, a bit dumbstruck. "Iris, what is this?" He turned back around to look at her, only to find that she had vanished. He looked around, confused, before realizing that not only was Iris gone, so was the entirety of SciLab. It was as if he had walked through an invisible portal to another location entirely.

"Iris? Are you there?!" he called out, to no answer. He looked upward instead, toward his operator. "Lan?!" Once again, there was no answer. Somehow, when he walked into the vicinity of this strange machine, he had become cut off from the outside world. He turned back toward the machine, more curious than ever, only to be greeted by a hand wrapping tightly around his throat, lifting him off the ground.

"Hurk!" He struggled to get free, kicking his feet and trying to pry away the fingers gripping his neck, before focusing forward toward his assailant. His eyes went wide as he quickly recognized the dark-colored Navi clothed in ninja garb.

"What a coincidence, meeting you again," his assaulter spoke flatly.

"You...!" he managed to exclaim, as the Navi threw him harshly to the ground. He quickly sat up, massaging his throat. "Shadowman! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm providing security," Shadowman replied. "I'm to delete any Navis that learn too much... Navis like you."

"Security for who?!" Megaman demanded, standing up and brandishing his buster. He made a silent request to Lan for a Battlechip, before remembering that his contact with his operator had been severed along with everything else.

"I'm not at liberty to say." His foe reached down and produced several kunai from his belt. "Perhaps you can learn the truth if you defeat me. I've been looking forward to a good rematch from you, Mr. Hero of Creamland." He vanished, reappearing behind Megaman and throwing the blades in his direction; Lan's Navi was barely able to dodge in time, jumping away.

"If you want a fight, you'll get one!" Megaman called out, projecting more confidence than he had. He wasn't sure how he was going to win this fight without Lan's assistance, but he had to do what he could. He ran forward, aiming his blaster and firing, as the battle began.

* * *

_On February 13, 2070, at 9:30 p.m., the Cybeasts Gregar and Falzar appeared mysteriously in End Net City, and began causing wanton destruction. SciLab's efforts to incapacitate the Cybeasts were fruitless, and they turned to the prototype cybernetic weaponry supplied by the Electopian military. These weapons were effective in stopping the Cybeasts' advances, but failed to sufficiently damage or weaken them, and the two sides eventually found themselves at a standstill in the Sky Town area of Cyber City. At this point, the military decided to send in Bass to tip the scales._

_The addition of Bass to the Electopian forces was initially effective, and the Cybeasts were being weakened. After two hours of combat, however, the Cybeasts began cooperating and effectively demolished most of the weaponry used. Minutes later, Bass unleashed an extremely powerful suicide attack that crippled a portion of the Sky Town Net with its strength. Both Cybeasts were heavily incapacitated to the point where they could be captured and placed in stasis. They were relocated to SciLab for storage and further study. No trace of Bass was found after this assault, and SciLab assumed he had been destroyed._

_Bass emerged again on October 2, 2080, to assist a small rebel group in the successful assassination of Jakal Nordgen, the Secretary of Justice for the government of Ameroupe. Official Navis were immediately dispatched in great numbers to delete or capture him, but Bass managed to escape while sustaining heavy damage. He continued to elude capture for several months, despite an intense search by Official Netbattlers. His sudden appearance and change in demeanor is currently unexplained._

_Bass later encountered former SciLab scientist and World Three leader Dr. Albert Wily, and agreed to lend his assistance in the Alpha Incident of 2084; it is unknown when the two met, but Bass and Wily had been working together for at least 18 months, according to former World Three operative Madeline Iroaya. During this period, Bass was mostly used to infiltrate government Net spaces and steal experimental programs that would eventually create the parasitic Net monster Alpha. After Wily betrayed Bass and used his power to create Alpha, Bass attacked said organism, but was quickly absorbed along with the viral beast Gospel. After Alpha's destruction, neither he nor Gospel resurfaced, and he is currently presumed deleted._

_Until now..._ Dr. Hikari thought, having reached the end of the data entry. If there was anything he was more sure of now, it was how little they truly knew about this mysterious Navi. He had gone from giving his life to save his country, to being hellbent on destroying the human race. What could possibly have happened in the interim?

He sat back and rubbed his forehead. This research had been a complete waste of time; it was clear that there was too much about Forte's past that nobody knew, and he would never be able to deduce what Forte was currently up to. He could chalk it up to poor programming, but he couldn't imagine that to be the case. It was easy to tell that Forte was just as intelligent as a human being, instead of having a pre-programmed personality like most custom Navis, so his programming must have been exceptional, however it had happened. Megaman's intelligence was understandable, given his construction, but Forte was a complete mystery. That seemed to sum Forte up pretty well, he thought to himself.

He sighed and leaned forward, entering edit mode once again and beginning to type: _neither he nor Gospel resurfaced until August 7, 2084, in Cream Square..._

His writing was quickly interrupted as a shockwave seemed to tear through the air, nearly knocking him off his chair. He grabbed at his desk, quickly standing up as an alarm started to ring out, nearly drowning out the confused voices of his colleagues.

"What the hell was that? What's going on?!" He ran out of his office, needing to investigate.

* * *

Not long after their battle had started, Megaman was already in rough shape. Not being able to use Battlechips had left him with a fraction of his normal ability, and Shadowman was not all that interested in a fair fight. He tried to dodge as his opponent dashed forward again, but Shadowman's foot managed to clip his jaw, sending him flying backwards and landing hard on the ground.

"This is an all too familiar sight," his foe remarked, advancing on him. "Separating you from your operator has made this too easy. I had hoped you of all Navis might offer me a challenge." Shadowman stretched out his arm, forming a Long Sword on the end of it. "Oh well. A job is a job."

As he prepared to deliver the final blow, he paused as a bright light entered his peripheral vision. Both he and Megaman turned back toward the strange machine, which was glowing with a bright and dangerous light, sparks flying out of it on all sides. Seconds later, the machine exploded violently, sending shrapnel in every direction, damaging several of the Navis nearby. Along with the shrapnel, a strange shockwave of rainbow energy expanded out in every direction like a sphere; it slammed into both of the battling Navis, knocking them to the ground and sending them rolling away.

When Megaman came back to his senses several seconds later, the first thing he noticed was a piercing alarm ringing throughout the Cyberworld. The second thing he noticed was multiple voices calling out his name; he was able to process Lan's voice first, calling out to him in a panicked tone.

"Megaman! Are you alright?! What happened?! You completely disappeared!"

"Lan!" He sat up, a bit sore. "I'm alright, I think... a bit beat up..."

"Thank goodness," came another voice. Megaman looked forward to see Iris's avatar standing over him, relief all over her face. "You disappeared as soon as you ran far enough toward that machine. It must have been cloaked so nobody could see it." She extended her hand toward him. "What happened in there?"

"I was fighting someone..." Megaman took Iris's hand, standing up fully. "Then the machine exploded, and there was that shockwave..." He paused and took a look around, trying to find Shadowman, but the Navi seemed to have vanished.

"I felt it go through the entire SciLab network," she replied. "I'm not sure yet what it did, if anything."

"All of SciLab? Is everyone alright?" His eyebrows raised as he came to a realization. "Are Lan's classmates alright?"

"I hope so." Iris turned around as a large screen appeared behind her, linked to several security cameras. In one corner of the screen, she could see the schoolchildren standing around in one of the labs, looking confused and scared. Both Iris and Megaman sighed in relief.

"Good, it looks like they're unharmed. That's..." She cut herself off as her eyes moved to another corner of the screen, gasping at what she saw. Megaman quickly scanned the screen, trying to find what she had seen, freezing in fear when he finally found it.

Several rooms away, in an unoccupied conference room, they could clearly see a group of four Mettool viruses on the march. They looked almost like holograms, transparent and only partially there, but the damage they were doing with their pickaxes was very real. The two watched in horror as the viruses slowly made their way through the building, toward Lan's unsuspecting classmates.


	3. Descent Into Darkness

The security alarm continued to blare through SciLab, both in the real world and the Cyberworld, as Navis ran about to try and get the building locked down. Dozens of viruses had been found in the halls of SciLab so far, posing a threat to everyone present, and so far their only solution was to close every door they could to keep them contained. Dozens of copies of Iris's Navi avatar flew through the air, guiding Official Navis from one place to the next.

One of these Irises was hovering in front of Megaman as he ran, a map having appeared in the air in front of her, more for his benefit than her own. He was moving as quickly as he could to the network location of the room where Lan's classmates were, wanting to do something to help ensure their safety, though he had no idea what that might be.

"We're nearly there," she confirmed as they rounded a corner.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, picking up the pace a bit. "The viruses haven't gotten to them, have they?"

"The children look distressed, but they're unharmed." Iris pulled up a security camera view of the class; everyone was huddling together, as Ms. Mari tried to urge everyone to remain calm. "The doors have been securely locked, though I'm not sure if these viruses can break through."

"I'd rather not find out." Megaman continued following Iris further into the SciLab network, screeching to a halt as four Mettool viruses came into view. All of them looked like translucent holograms, much like the viruses that were nearby in the real world. One of them was swinging their pickaxe into the air repeatedly, where it seemed to collide with some invisible wall. He paused, watching the Mettool work for a couple of moments.

"Iris, bring up that camera again?"

She quickly did so, showing a view of the four viruses that were in the real world at the moment. They watched as one of the viruses slammed its pickaxe into the locked metal door in front of it, not making much progress, but determined to break it down eventually. Megaman's eyes moved back and forth between the virus in the camera and the one in front of his eyes, seeing the two move in exactly the same way, mirror images of each other. It didn't take long for either of them to put the pieces together.

Lan's Navi looked upward. "Lan, send me a Cannon!"

"Got it!" came the reply. Seconds later, Megaman's arm glowed briefly as it changed shape, transforming into a larger weapon. He carefully aimed at the Mettool that was swinging into the air before firing, his shot hitting the mark and instantly deleting the virus. The other three jumped in surprise before turning toward him, advancing angrily. He felt a Sword appearing on his other hand as he started to run forward, and seconds later the remaining viruses had been dispatched.

"Megaman, look!" Iris exclaimed urgently as he turned back around. She gestured toward the security camera footage, which now showed an empty room; the viruses that were there previously had vanished.

"They're gone... so they were the same viruses after all." He walked back over to Iris. "Partly in the real world and partly in the Cyberworld... how is that even possible?"

"I don't know," she answered. "That's a question for the scientists here. They'd have to study one of the viruses a bit more."

"Well, they're not going to get the chance." He glanced in her direction. "Can you tell where the viruses are? Can you mark them on your map?"

"Of course." She summoned a map in front of them both, already marked up with a number of glowing red dots.

"Good." Megaman held his sword in front of him. "Let's go hunting."

* * *

Minutes later, the number of dots on the map had dropped significantly, with only a handful remaining. Megaman had transformed into his AquaCustom style, a Long Sword formed on one arm and a High Cannon on the other; he had taken out over a dozen viruses already, and showed no signs of tiring out. All of the Official Navis in the SciLab network had been given their new instructions, and they had deleted nearly all of the remaining viruses.

"I only see three viruses remaining," Iris reported, traveling alongside Megaman. "They're all gathered in the same place. You appear to be the closest to them."

"Then let's go finish this off," he responded. "Is there anyone around them in the real world?"

"Possibly. There are offices in this area." She brought up her camera screen once again, gasping at the image appearing before her eyes. Megaman took a look at the footage as well, his heart dropping as he saw three Spiky viruses in Dr. Hikari's office. Yuichiro was standing in the corner, having made a makeshift barricade out of chairs and filing cabinets; it didn't look as if it would hold, as the viruses advanced on him.

"No!" He sped off as fast as he could, following Iris as she led him to the viruses as quickly as she could. He kept one eye on the map in front of him and the other on the camera footage, trying to mentally calculate how quickly he could reach the viruses. As he watched the viruses approach, only feet away from Dr. Hikari, he knew that he had no chance of making it in time.

He pushed himself to his limit, running at a breakneck pace, watching helplessly as the closest virus open its mouth and started charging up a fire blast. Just as the Spiky finished charging the attack, it suddenly cried out in pain, fizzling out before disappearing completely. Both Megaman and Iris watched, shocked, as the other two viruses followed suit, vanishing into thin air. Yuichiro stared at the empty space for a moment, confused, before leaning back against the wall and slumping to the ground, relieved.

"What the...?" Megaman finally reached the network location of Dr. Hikari's office, skidding to a stop as he saw a Navi clad in black facing away from him, arms folded. Three large shurikens were embedded in the ground nearby.

"You're much too slow, Megaman." The Navi glanced backward, not turning around.

"Shadowman?" Megaman took a step forward, wary, as Iris hovered behind him. "Why did you..."

"I was removing a few distractions," Shadowman answered, turning around. "It would be difficult to resume our battle with those things running around causing havoc."

"Our battle..." Lan's Navi brandished his Long Sword, standing up straight. "You're not providing security for your client anymore?"

"After the device exploded, there was no longer anything to keep secure." His opponent folded his arms. "There's no more obligation for me to fulfill, so I may do as I please. The only thing I still need here is a true battle with a Navi of your caliber."

"That's the only thing you care about, isn't it? I guess I should be thankful for that."

Shadowman drew some kunai from his belt. "If you want to thank me, do so by giving me a good fight."

"Megaman, can you battle this Navi yourself?" Iris hovered closer. "Should I summon help?"

He shook his head, turning back to face her. "I'll be fine. You should make sure Dr. Hikari is alright." She nodded, her avatar vanishing into thin air as she turned her focus elsewhere; Megaman turned back to face his opponent, who had adopted a battle stance.

"You had better not let me down this time," Shadowman spoke, as the two dashed toward each other, prepared to strike. Before their blades could connect, however, Shadowman found himself suddenly flung upward into the air. Megaman screeched to a stop, staring at a thin yet tall tornado that had sprung out of the ground, launching his opponent skyward. As Shadowman tried to orient himself, another larger Navi appeared above him, slamming his fists into Shadowman's torso and sending him back toward the ground, where he landed painfully.

"Whoa!" Megaman ran over to him as he slowly got to his feet, and both of them looked up at the mysterious interloper, who was slowly descending to the ground. This Navi was powerfully built, his torso a mix of black and white, with gray, plane-like wings protruding from his back; his hair was large, blue and wild, and he wore a red mask on his face, with an unusually long nose. Most disturbing of all, however, was the strange aura that surrounded him, which seemed to absorb light and darken the space immediately around his frame.

"Your work here is finished, Shadowman," the Navi spoke, his voice gruff. "And now you have seen too much. You cannot be allowed to leave."

"Tenguman..." Shadowman stood up, his hand at his hip, ready to strike with one of his weapons. "Last I saw you, you were training with Feng Tian in Cyber City. Now you've aligned yourself with Forte?" Megaman's eyebrows shot up at the mention of Forte's name, quietly putting the pieces together, as the enemy Navi continued.

"I've found a greater purpose now. The work that Forte is doing will change the world. Not even the researchers of SciLab or Nebula can measure up to him."

"SciLab? Nebula?" Megaman stepped forward. "What is he working on? What's his plan?"

"That's enough talk," Tenguman responded. "Time to eliminate you both." He brought his feet together and began to spin in place, counterclockwise, with increasing speed. As he became a blur, strong winds started moving inward toward the spinning Navi, and Megaman had to fight to keep from being pulled in; he eventually lost his grip on the ground, being swept off his feet and toward Tenguman. His opponent's strong arm slammed into the side of his head, knocking him away, but the winds immediately brought him right back. Tenguman's second blow hit him powerfully in the gut, and he fell to the ground a few yards away.

"Nngh..." Megaman sat up slowly, then quickly ducked to avoid Shadowman, who had been flung in his direction. He pulled out his buster as he stood up, firing repeatedly at his foe with one hand while a sword appeared on the other; a small whirlwind appeared in front of Tenguman, catching the buster shots and flinging them about the Cyberworld. Megaman dashed forward while dodging the projectiles, ready to attack with his blade, but he was caught off guard as his enemy's nose suddenly extended outward, striking him in the gut and knocking him back once again.

"What... what the..." He sat up, watching as Shadowman made another attempt to attack Tenguman. "Did I just get attacked by a nose?"

"A nose strike was enough to knock you down?" Lan wondered aloud. "What kind of Navi is this?" Both he and Megaman watched as Shadowman attacked repeatedly with his blade, eschewing his projectile weapons. Tenguman effortlessly dodged his every attack, quickly reaching out and grabbing the blade on the last swing; holding it in his hand, he clenched his fist tightly, and the blade shattered from the sheer force of his grip.

Shadowman barely had time to be surprised before a knee to his gut sent him flying backwards. As Tenguman outstretched his hand, forming another tornado and sending it toward the ninja Navi, Megaman started charging up a Mega Cannon he had received from Lan, hoping to catch his opponent off guard. Once he had built enough power, he fired the massive blast directly at his foe, only to have him leap up into the air at the last instant.

"Damn it!" Megaman cursed, watching Tenguman fly up and above the suspended Shadowman, clasping his hands together. he flew back downward, slamming his elbows powerfully into Shadowman's chest. The Navi's eyes bulged out as he flew into the ground, and upon landing, he didn't get back up. Both Megaman and Lan stared in shock at Shadowman's motionless frame, as Tenguman flew back down to block Megaman's view, his aura of darkness stronger than ever.

"You might as well surrender now, Megaman," he warned, staring down Lan's Navi. "You haven't managed to lay a finger on me. Your deletion is inevitable."

"You..." Megaman clenched his fist, frustrated at his complete lack of progress in this battle. "I won't let you get away with this, I don't care how strong you are!" He dashed forward, ready to attack; Tenguman snorted, and his nose extended once again, striking his opponent on the side of his neck. Megaman's eyes widened, and he fell onto his face, surprised.

"Megaman! Are you alright?" Lan inquired, anxious, as Megaman tried to push himself up. He tried to bring one of his legs underneath him to stand, but it wouldn't respond, and he collapsed back to the ground.

"My legs... what did you do to me..."

"Don't bother getting up," Tenguman replied, walking over to the fallen Navi. "Your legs are done for, and so are you." He grabbed Megaman by his upper arm and flew upward, far higher than he had flown before, nearly reaching the limits of the Cyberworld; he immediately turned around and started flying down toward the ground, prepared to slam Megaman into it as a finishing move, his arms wrapped tightly around the Navi's torso to prevent him from moving.

Megaman struggled to get free, his arms pinned and completely immobile, due to Tenguman's massive strength. He formed a Mega Cannon on the end of his arm, starting to charge it up, but without any ability to aim it, the attack would be useless.

"Megaman!" Lan called out, panicked. "You need to get free, quickly!"

"I... can't!" his Navi responded, his voice strained as he fought against his captor's grip. "He's... too strong..."

Lan gritted his teeth, clenching his PET more tightly as he watched Megaman and Tenguman plummet toward the ground, as if he could somehow send some of his strength to his Navi. As he stared at the screen, he felt his nausea and his headache disappearing, his mind emptying as he focused purely on the events unfolding in front of him. He watched as his Navi struggled to get free, his frame starting to glow faintly; Megaman's eyes widened as he felt an unusual surge of strength coursing through him, and with one final push, he managed to break one arm free of his foe's grip. Thinking quickly, he aimed the fully charged Mega Cannon upward at Tenguman's wings, shattering them both.

"What?! What are you doing?!" Tenguman demanded, as the two of them started to speed up, his descent now completely out of control.

"I'm ending this fight!" Megaman declared, as they continued to plummet uncontrollably toward the ground, exchanging his Mega Cannon for a Long Sword. Right before they hit the ground, he yanked his arm away from Tenguman as hard as he could, rotating them in midair so Megaman was underneath, and he pointed his sword skyward.

The two crashed into the ground with incredible force, causing a shockwave that knocked Shadowman some yards away and practically crushing Megaman's frame. Groaning in pain, he looked up at the Navi that was now lying on top of him, seeing the expression of shock and pain on Tenguman's face, his body fully impaled on the Long Sword. Moments later, his body dissolved into deletion, the bits of data floating away as if they were caught up in a breeze.

"Ow..." Megaman tried and failed to move his body, as the glow of his frame quickly faded. "That hurt... a lot..."

"Megaman, you did it!" Lan exhaled, holding his chest. "Don't scare me like..." He stopped mid-sentence as his nausea suddenly returned in full force, sweeping over him and causing him to nearly vomit on the spot.

"Lan? What's wrong?"

"Ugh..." Lan managed to keep his breakfast down, his clenched fist covering his mouth for a moment. "Just feel terrible... same as before... but you're okay, that's what matters..."

"'Okay' is relative... I feel like I've been hit by a truck..." Megaman used one arm to push himself onto his side, trying to sit up, breathing heavily. He blinked as an outstretched hand came into his field of view, looking up to see Iris standing over him.

"I'm glad that you're alright," she spoke, as Megaman took her hand. "I alerted the Officials as soon as I saw you battling that strange Navi, but it seems they weren't fast enough." She pulled him up into a sitting position, his legs splayed out in front of him, still not functioning correctly. He hoped that returning to his PET would fix them.

"Thanks for doing that anyway," Megaman offered. "How is everyone in the real world?"

"They are unharmed, thankfully," Iris reported. "The children were scared by the alarm and the lockdown, but they are otherwise alright. Some SciLab personnel are lying to them about what happened as we speak."

"Probably for the best..." He looked around at whatever he could see in his field of vision. On his left side, he could see Shadowman slowly getting to his feet, surrounded by three suspicious-looking copies of Iris, ready to jump in if he tried anything. Looking over to his right, Megaman blinked as he noticed a bit of chip data that hadn't been there before, exuding the same dark aura that had enveloped Tenguman.

"What's that?" he wondered aloud, as Iris hovered over toward it.

"If I were you, I would stay as far away from that as you can." He looked over to see Shadowman glancing in his direction, holding his side. "That chip data is extremely dangerous. You don't know the damage that it can do to a Navi."

"If it's that dangerous, then it cannot be left here." Iris reached down toward the chip data, encasing it in some sort of barrier before lifting it up. "I will see that it is delivered to the appropriate scientists for further study."

"Suit yourself." Shadowman turned away. "I suppose this means I won't be taking any more contracts from that backstabber Forte."

Megaman looked over at him again. "How did he hire you? What did he want you to do, exactly?"

"I don't discuss my work with anyone but potential clients." He glanced back. "You and I will finish our battle one day, Megaman. Count on it."

Megaman smirked. "I'll be ready for it." He watched as Shadowman teleported away in a beam of light, before turning his attention back to Iris, who was hovering back in his direction; her three clones quickly dematerialized.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked, kneeling in front of him.

"I'll be fine," he answered, meeting her eyes. "I just need to rest and recharge for a little while."

"You should leave now. SciLab is about to become very busy."

He nodded. "I will. Thanks again, Iris." She gave him a small smile as he was jacked out by Lan, returning to his PET, just as the Officials arrived. She stood and turned around, starting to debrief them on the situation.

Back in the real world, Lan rolled over onto his side as he looked into the screen of his PET, his head pounding harder than it had all morning. "Mega, how are you feeling?"

"I feel about as bad as you look right now," his Navi responded, noticing Lan's pale complexion and half-closed eyes. "How about we rest now and talk later?"

"Sounds good..." Lan managed to get himself up and shamble over to his computer, wordlessly placing the device in its charging dock before returning to bed, feeling worse than ever. He mumbled something unintelligible in Megaman's direction before falling back asleep. Megaman grinned a bit before laying back and closing his eyes as well, feeling the PET starting to restore his frame.


	4. Frostbite

"A Dark Chip?"

"That's what my dad said," Lan responded to Mayl, as they walked with Dex down the sidewalk of downtown Den City. It was the Saturday after the virus incident at SciLab, and Lan was filling them in with a carefully curated subset of the details. He had told them about the battle with Tenguman and Shadowman, and that there was an outbreak of viruses, but he chose not to mention exactly where the viruses had been.

"I've heard of those!" Dex chimed in. "Chisao says there are a lot of them in Netopia, at his school!" He was referring to his younger brother, who lived in Netopia with his mother; unlike Mayl's parents, Dex's mother and father were separated.

"At his school? Seriously?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess Nebula's a lot bigger in Netopia and they're really easy to find. Chisao says some of the kids in his school use them to power up their Navis, then throw them away and get new ones."

"That's horrible!" Mayl exclaimed. "They just throw the Navi away?"

"They probably don't have a choice," Lan replied, remembering the discussion he had with his father the previous day.

* * *

"So that's everything you remember? Nothing else? Even the smallest details could be important."

"That's everything I can think of," Lan answered, looking up at his father as they sat across from each other, in a corner of his office. After he had recovered from his own virus, he had been asked by Dr. Hikari to come into SciLab after school on Friday for a full debriefing, and he had offered up every bit of information he could recall. The only detail he had intentionally omitted was exactly how he had found his way into the SciLab network. "Honestly, some of it's kind of hazy. I was feeling pretty crummy."

"I bet you were, poor kid," his father responded sympathetically. "Well, thanks for the info. This will be a big help."

He stood up to leave, causing Lan to sit up a bit in surprise. "Is that all?"

"Er... yeah, that's all I wanted," Dr. Hikari replied, cocking an eyebrow. "Were you expecting something else?"

"Well, no, just..." Lan adopted a sheepish expression. "Sort of thought I was going to get in trouble..."

"Oh..." Yuichiro paused for a moment. "I mean, if you want to get in trouble, I'm sure I can think of something."

"No! No, I'm good!" Lan quickly stood up, as his father laughed.

"You're fine, Lan. You didn't do anything wrong this time." He grinned at the relief crossing his son's face. "I've still got some work to do, but you're free to go. I'll be home for dinner tonight."

"Thanks a bunch, Dad." Lan smiled as his father turned away, walking back to his main computer terminal, before a question popped up in his mind. "Actually, I was wondering..."

"Hm?" Dr. Hikari stopped and turned around, curious.

"You know the chip data that Tenguman left behind? Did you guys figure out what that was?"

"That, ah..." Yuichiro paused for a moment, thinking this over. Lan recognized the expression on his face, having seen it a few times before; his father was trying to figure out exactly what he was allowed to disclose. "That was a Dark Chip of some sort."

"Dark Chip? What's that?" The name tugged weakly at Lan's memory. He'd heard the term somewhere before, but wasn't sure what it meant.

"They're special chips that are manufactured by Nebula," Yuichiro explained, walking backward over to his computer and taking a seat in his chair. "They're like normal Battlechips, they give your Navi weapons, but they're extremely powerful. A Dark Sword chip would be six times the strength of a normal Sword, for example."

"Holy cow." Lan followed his father over to the computer, thinking back to his battle with the incredibly powerful Tenguman. Did all of his strength come from Dark Chips?

"Yeah. The problem is, that power comes at a cost." His father turned in his chair, reaching out to take his computer out of standby mode. "The Navi's program deteriorates with each use, and after enough Dark Chips, the Navi falls apart completely. Often times, though, the Dark Chip affects the Navi's control program and it breaks away from its operator."

"So it's like the Dark Chip makes Navis evil or something?" Lan commented, looking at the screen, as his father started typing and pulling up some data.

"You could say that. Certainly doesn't stop people from using them, though. If you go on some parts of the Net in Netopia or Yumland, you'll run into a fair amount of wild Dark Navis. They tear each other apart..." Yuichiro eventually stopped, as the large screen pulled up an image of the chip they had retrieved two days before.

"Wow..." Lan imagined the potential damage those chips could do for a moment, before returning to the situation at hand. "So does that mean Forte is working with Nebula? Or stealing from them, maybe."

"Well, no, that's the thing," his father replied. "This is definitely some sort of Dark Chip, but it's not the kind that Nebula manufactures. It's got a very different construction to it, which makes no sense. Nobody else but Nebula should be producing these."

"Weird... wait! I just remembered!" Dr. Hikari quickly spun around in his chair, as Lan continued. "Before we fought, Tenguman said something about Forte doing better research than either SciLab or Nebula. Something about changing the world."

"Ah, hell." Yuichiro rubbed his head, not happy to hear this news. "So Forte probably made this, then. This is the last thing we need." He sighed and turned back to face his computer. "We thought he was going to attack our infrastructure or something, but I guess he's been experimenting and doing research all this time."

"How bad is that?" Lan asked. "How much... researching can he do?"

"Forte is far smarter than most humans," his father replied. "From what Dr. Cossack has described, he's even smarter than most scientists. I don't want to know what sort of things his devious mind can cook up."

Lan bit his lip as he nodded, trying to imagine the sort of horrible plans Forte had in mind. He sincerely hoped Forte could be found and stopped before anything truly sinister came to light.

* * *

"So does that mean we're going to start seeing Dark Chips around here?" Mayl asked, concerned, as the trio walked past a poster proclaiming the return of Mr. Famous to Electopia. One of the world's top Netbattlers, Mr. Famous was looked up to by many school-age Netbattlers, and the poster declared that he would be holding an exhibition in a couple day's time.

"I really hope not," Lan answered. "As far as I know, that was the only one so far. I hope it stays that way."

"I doubt it," Dex chimed in. "If this Forte guy is making his own Dark Chips, why would he stop at just one?"

Lan frowned. "Yeah, I guess..."

"You can't just hope that the bad guys aren't going to be bad guys," Dex continued. "What you gotta do is be ready to fight back." He punched at the air, as if beating up some invisible opponent. "Me and Gutsman are just gonna have to train twice as hard, to fight off any Navi who tries to use a Dark Chip against us. If Forte crosses us, he'll regret it!"

"I wish none of us had to do any fighting at all," Mayl responded, looking down. "This whole business makes me feel sick."

"I mean, it is what it is," Lan replied fatalistically. "What are we supposed to do, just roll over and let criminals do what they want?"

"Hmph." She folded her arms and held herself tightly in response, causing Lan to sigh.

"Oh, come on, Mayl, don't get upset..."

"I'm not that upset," she replied, shivering a little. "It's just getting really cold all of a sudden..." Lan and Dex paused for a moment, becoming more aware of their surroundings, and they quickly held themselves as well as they realized how chilly the air had become.

"Wow, it is... really cold," Lan spoke, rubbing his bare arms with his hands. "It just dropped like 20 degrees. How'd that happen?"

"I dunno," Dex answered. "Just got cold out of noWHAUGH!" He yelped as his legs slipped out from under him, and he fell onto the sidewalk on his back, sliding a little bit.

"Whoa! You alright?" Lan and Mayl stepped in front of him, grabbing his hands and helping him back up as he groaned.

"What the heck was that?" He rubbed his aching head, as all three of them looked down at the shiny, slippery patch of ground on which they stood.

"It's ice..." Lan slid his foot back and forth across it. "Why is there ice here? Did someone spill water and then it froze?" Mayl took a step back, then dashed forward, sliding several yards on the ice while trying to maintain her balance. On the other side of the street, pedestrians were watching them curiously while shivering.

"The ice stops right over here," she observed, stepping back onto more steady ground. Looking back, she saw that the ice was in one large patch, on the sidewalk, street, and part of the large department store next to them, as if it were a gigantic spill of some sort. Lan and Dex slid across to join her.

"There's another ice patch, down the street," Lan observed, as he saw other pedestrians slipping and sliding on it. "This is so weird..." They rounded a corner, heading toward Higsby's, and stopped right in their tracks. One block in front of them, a mysterious blue humanoid being was standing and looking at a nearby building. It was exuding a strange, light-blue aura, and it appeared as though its entire body was made of ice or crystal. While it was relatively short, it had tall, wild, icy hair, and around its neck was a regal-looking cloak, as if he were royalty.

The trio watched the strange ice man raise his hand, aiming at the side of the building. They could see a sheet of ice start to form, spreading outward from the center; he eventually put his hand down, after a large circle of ice had formed on the wall and sidewalk.

"Who on Earth is that?" Mayl wondered aloud. "What is he..."

The strange being quickly turned in their direction as she spoke, causing her to clam up quickly. Its eyes were like circular, black crystals, and in the middle of its chest was a small, oval-shaped, purple jewel. The jewel was exuding an aura of its own, one very similar to what Lan had seen in the SciLab network just a few days ago.

"Guys... I think we should run," Lan muttered, starting to step back.

"What is..." Dex started, still transfixed. The ice man started to hover above the ground, his blue aura glowing larger. He started to glide toward the three children at a high speed, leaving a large plume of frosty air behind him.

"Run!" Lan yelled, pulling the both of them around the corner, as the ice man blasted by, gliding right past them and across the street, in his haste. They ran down the sidewalk, turning and entering the first door they saw; Lan whirled around and slammed it behind him, just as a blast of ice sealed it shut. The ice creature hovered over to the door, watching as the trio ran up an escalator and out of sight onto the next floor of the department store.

"Frostman, what's going on?" demanded a voice in the being's ear.

"I've made an interesting discovery," the being responded. "I think I've come across Megaman's operator, here in Den City. Would you like him deleted, too?"

"Well, that's a fortunate coincidence," the voice answered. "Yes, eliminate the boy if you're able. That will make Megaman much easier to deal with."

"With all due respect, Forte, I don't think Megaman is going to be a match for me, let alone yourself."

"Do not underestimate that Navi, Frostman," Forte replied sternly. "He is much more dangerous than he seems."

"Yes, sir." Frostman looked up at the building, plotting out his next moves.

* * *

Lan sat down on a bench on the second floor, out of breath. "Is he still following us?"

Dex looked around the floor, as well as down the escalator, ignoring the other shoppers glancing sideways at him and his friends.. "I don't see him... I think he's given up." He was a bit winded, as well.

Mayl was leaning against a wall close to Lan, her hand clasped over her racing heart, her eyes wide with panic. "What on Earth was that thing?"

"I don't know who he is, but he's a NetNavi, that much I know," Lan answered, keeping his gaze down at the floor.

"A Navi?" Mayl's eyes widened even more. "But that's impossible!"

"That jewel on his chest, it was glowing like a Dark Chip," he replied. "I don't know what he's doing here, but I'm pretty sure it's a Navi..."

Mayl leaned back again, still shivering a bit. "This is like a nightmare... how can any of this really be happening?" She looked over to the side, taking in her surroundings a bit, and her eye caught something outside of the window.

Lan and Dex instantly looked over as Mayl let out a loud shriek, just before a large hole was blasted in the wall beside her. They watched as Frostman proceeded through the hole, advancing on Mayl, who was scrambling backward and trying to get away. The other customers screamed and ran for the doors, trying to bash them open upon seeing them frozen shut.

"Leave her alone!" Dex yelled angrily, in a surprising display of courage. He ran right up to the Navi, swinging his fist at Frostman's head to try and knock him away. The Navi quickly turned to face his new adversary, grabbing Dex's arm and gripping it tightly. As the boy struggled and kicked, a block of ice began to form around his arm, growing with each passing second; Dex let out a panicked yelp and began to struggle harder, trying to get free.

"Dex!" Lan called out, looking around and trying to think of a way to help. His eyes quickly settled on something nearby, and he motioned Mayl over. She quickly followed him, obeying without hesitation.

Frostman grinned deviously as the large block of ice completely encased Dex's lower arm, starting to move toward his shoulder, as the boy struggled harder and harder to get free. Noticing a commotion to his left, the Navi looked over just in time to see Lan and Mayl throw a rather large television at him with all their might. The screen froze over as it entered Frostman's blue aura, and shattered upon coming in contact with his head, sending electric shocks throughout his body and causing him to let go. As he struggled to remove the device, Lan and Mayl grabbed Dex's arms, hoisting him up, and ran toward the back corner of the store, hoping to find some sort of emergency exit.

"Where do we go?!" Mayl wondered aloud, before she felt a hand grab her and pull her aside. Lan and Dex stopped running and looked over toward where she had been.

"All of you, in here! Quickly!" They were being ushered into an open utility closet by a twenty-something woman with long, black hair, adorned with what appeared to be a tiny circular saw blade. She wore a white tank top with a very loose red shirt and green jeans, and had a katana and sheath connected to her belt, an effect that made her look somewhat like a modern-day samurai. Lan didn't stop to ponder this very long, and both he and Dex ran into the closet with Mayl. The samurai lady got in after them, closing the door almost all the way, leaving a crack for her to look though.

"Eek!" Mayl shrieked as she felt Dex's frozen arm press against her back in the small space; Lan quickly clamped his hand over her mouth. They all tried to look out the tiny slit in the door, as Frostman sped by angrily, leaving a trail of ice behind him. They waited until he had been gone for a while before finally daring to leave the closet.

"Phew, that was close," the woman commented, turning her attention to Dex, who was holding his frozen arm and gritting his teeth in pain. She reached out to grasp his arm and rested it on a nearby table, pulling the saw blade out of her hair. "Hold still, I can get you out of that." Dex nodded, a bit fearful as the girl pulled out her katana, using the hilt as a hammer and trying to crack the ice block. Lan turned to the girl, watching her work.

"Thanks for saving us," he offered. "How did you get into that closet?"

"My sister owns this department store, so I know the ins and outs," she answered, focusing on the ice around Dex's arm. "Name's Tamako Shiraizumi. And for Pete's sake, stop fidgeting, I know what I'm doing." Dex swallowed hard and tried to hold still, as Mayl put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

Lan took a peek down the hallway where Frostman had vanished; a trail of ice had been left behind, indicating that Frostman had moved his search to the floor below. He breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to the others just as Tamako managed to break the ice surrounding Dex's arm into several pieces, which fell away. He quickly withdrew the appendage into his shirt, trying to warm it up.

"There, that's done," she commented, looking into the hall. "Now what the hell was that thing?"

"Some sort of Navi, I think..." Lan answered, following her gaze.

"Some sort of what?!" she exclaimed, before calming herself. "You know what, forget I asked. Crazy science stuff is happening, let's leave it at that."

"I need to call my dad, right now. He's going to know what to do, I hope." He pulled out his PET. "Megaman, have you been watching?"

Megaman nodded. "I already tried calling your dad, Lan. There's just a message, he's out visiting with some other scientists somewhere..."

"Great..." Lan held his head, frustrated. "He couldn't bring his PET with him?"

"We should go to SciLab anyway, Lan," his Navi suggested. "It's probably safe there, plus we'll run into him when he gets back."

"Good idea." Lan looked down the hallway, seeing the trail of ice again.

"How are we supposed to get by him?" Dex wondered aloud, still nursing his cold arm. "If he catches us, we're done. We can't fight our way past him."

Tamako walked across the floor to another door, and the children instinctively followed. "We can take the freight elevator to the ground floor. If we're lucky, he'll still be looking for you in the store, and you can escape." She opened the door and led them through, walking them through a staff-only area to a nearby elevator, which they quickly entered.

"Thank you so much," Mayl said as the elevator began to descend, allowing herself to breathe properly again. "We'd be icicles if it weren't for you."

Tamako smiled. "Don't worry about it. I couldn't just leave you guys to him." The elevator doors opened again, and they all followed the older woman out as she led them toward the back of the department store. She opened a door and peeked out, the light of the outdoors shining through the crack. She sighed in relief, not seeing any sign of Frostman.

"Now's your chance! Run, quick!" The three children nodded and ran outside, as Lan waved thanks to Tamako, who waved back and shut the door quickly. Lan quickly turned in the direction of SciLab and started running, with the other two following him. A few seconds later, he yelped as he found himself sliding on a large patch of ice; he tried and failed to stop himself as he slammed hard into a stopped limousine, falling backward. The window of the limousine rolled down as Lan rubbed his nose.

"Lan, watch where you're going! We just had this car cleaned!" Lan looked up, recognizing Yai's voice, and he scrambled for the door handle.

"Yai! Thank god it's you!" He wrenched the door open and dived into the car, quickly followed by Mayl and Dex, as Yai yelped.

"Hey! What are you guys doing?!" she exclaimed, as the three barreled over her.

"We need to go to SciLab, right now!" Lan replied, trying to get oriented in his seat.

"This isn't a taxi service!" Yai responded, trying to yank Dex out of the car forcefully, her entire body leaning back as she pulled. "I can't just change my..." As she tried to remove him from the vehicle, her eyes focused on a strange sort of ice being flying down the sidewalk, upside-down in her vision, quickly moving in her direction.

"Kyaah! What IS that?!" she demanded, as Lan reached over and pulled her in, slamming the door shut.

"That's what we're running from! We have to get to SciLab now!"

Yai nodded and leaned forward. "Step on it!" she ordered to the chauffeur, who stomped on the gas pedal, equally panicked. The limousine pealed out of its spot, as Frostman slowed to a stop on the sidewalk, watching it go. Tutting, he pointed his hand toward the retreating vehicle, and a large patch of ice formed right in front of it, causing the car to go skidding out of control. The driver started to pump the brakes, and the limousine did a spin or two, nearly flipping over before coming to rest.

Lan tried to get up, having been thrown off his seat, then impacted by Yai. As he tried to orient himself, he saw the car door open, and Frostman stared inside, smirking.

"It's been fun," he began, forming a large, pointed icicle at the passengers. "But I'm afraid playtime is over." He lifted the icicle over his head, ready to spear the lot of them, as Lan braced himself for the attack, not having any idea how to escape. As Frostman prepared to finish them off, his body suddenly distorted, like a TV losing its reception; an instant later, he vanished completely, leaving the icicle to fall to the ground and shatter. All four children stared, completely confused, the silence hanging over them for several long seconds as they regained their bearings.

"What... just happened?" Mayl wondered.

"Beats me," Dex answered. "He just vanished..."

"Well, good riddance, whatever that thing was," Yai answered. "So, um... do you still need to go to SciLab?"

Lan nodded. "Definitely. Dad's going to want to know that computer stuff is showing up in the real world again."

Dex voiced his agreement, as the chauffeur started to pull the limousine away again, before his brain fully processed what Lan had just said. "Wait... what do you mean 'again'?"

Lan froze, realizing he'd just given himself away, as the other three started at him expectantly. He groaned and started telling them the truth of what had happened earlier in the week, as the limousine started taking them all toward SciLab.


	5. The Edge of Discovery

"For the third time, I don't have any more updates on Dr. Hikari." The increasingly irritated SciLab receptionist looked down at a highly frustrated Lan, both of them trying hard not to lose their cool. "He was supposed to be free by now. He must have a meeting running long." Lan nodded, biting his lip and loosing his nervous grip on the reception desk. Behind him, Mayl watched the exchange with vague interest, as Dex shuffled his feet back and forth; they had been waiting in the lobby for nearly an hour, and the terror of the early afternoon had mostly faded, leaving them less panicked and increasingly bored.

"Ugh, for... come on, Dad..." Lan started walking down a hallway, eyes on the ground and hands in his pockets. "Of all the times..."

"What is your dad doing?" Mayl asked, as she and Dex started walked behind him, not being familiar with SciLab and making sure to stick close. Lan, conversely, wasn't going anywhere in particular, wandering down a hallway with laboratories on either side, killing time.

"He's in some stupid meeting with IPC about who knows what," he grumbled. "Something way less important than this!" He started raising his voice, as his fists clenched in his pockets. "Why is he always... argh!" He swung his foot into the nearby wall, needing a target for his anger.

"Lan, just relax," Megaman said somewhat sternly from the boy's PET. "Getting angry isn't going to do anyone any good." Lan fumed, about to open his mouth to snap back at his Navi, when he was stopped by Mayl's hand gently coming to rest on his shoulder.

"Please, Lan, calm down..." He could hear concern and something approaching fear in her voice, which caused all of his anger to immediately evaporate from his body. He looked down at the ground again, feeling ashamed of himself.

"Sorry..." he muttered. "I'm just really stressed... all this crazy stuff happening..." Mayl nodded, squeezing his shoulder gently as Dex stopped walking, his attention caught on something happening through a small window.

"I know... I'm scared, too. But it's going to be okay. Your dad will know what's going on and put a stop to it." She smiled gently, trying to cheer him up. "Or maybe you'll find some way to save the day again."

"Mm. Yeah, that's me. Always saving the day..." There was a bitterness in his voice that took her by surprise, quieting her briefly. Before she could speak again, however, her thoughts were interrupted by a call from nearby.

"Hey, guys!" Dex called out. "C'mere and take a look at what they're doing!" The two of them turned around, Lan quickly walking over to where Dex was standing, not enjoying the conversation and thankful for the reprieve; Mayl followed after, looking through the glass at what Dex was watching. A holographic display sat in the middle of the room, and it was displaying three Official Navis, standing and facing each other in a triangle. One of the Navis was wielding a Life Sword above his head, while to his left, another Navi was summoning another batch of swords, which eventually formed what Lan recognized to be a Life Sword 2.

"What are they doing?" Mayl wondered aloud, as the third Navi formed yet another Program Advance. The three figures moved slowly toward one another, meeting in the center, and touched their energy swords together. The blades quickly and loudly merged together, combining into a much taller, white pillar of energy, with bolts of red, green and blue crackling around it. Lan stared at the reaction, amazed, when the pillar of light suddenly flickered and disappeared. The three children could hear dissatisfied grumbling voices through the window.

"What was that?" Dex wondered. "It looks like they were combining Life Swords together."

Lan nodded, still looking in. "Doesn't sound like it worked, though..."

"It never works." All three whirled around as they heard a voice from behind, to see Yuichiro Hikari standing there, looking through the window as well. "They've been trying to do that for months. It should be possible in theory, but you need an immense amount of power, not to mention synchronicity."

"Dad!" Lan exclaimed. "Where have you been?! Why weren't you answering your phone?!"

"My PET isn't working right now," his father answered. "I've been trying to modify PETs for something I've been working on, but no dice." He started walking off toward the lobby, headed for his office, and the children followed. "So the receptionist tells me you've been waiting for me rather impatiently."

Lan nodded. "Yes! We were all just-"

"Yuichiro!" Another voice called out from down a branching hallway, and Lan turned to see Dr. Regal running toward them. "Finally, you're back! I've been trying to--"

"Oh, come on!" Lan belted, exasperated; his father put a hand on his shoulder, a subtle order to keep quiet.

"I've been in a meeting with IPC all day, Lucius," Yuichiro responded. "Please tell me this is important."

The other scientist nodded. "You have to come look at this, right now. There's an old SciLab research building on the edge of the city that's resumed operating by itself."

"Wait, what? All on its own? How is that possible?"

"You'll see that when you see it," Regal responded, walking down another hallway toward a parking garage. "Come on, let's go."

Dr. Hikari started walking after him. "Hold up, hold up. What's with this 'surprise' crap? Just tell me what's going on!"

"Dad!" Lan called out, running to catch up. "Come on! This isn't fair! The three of us are attacked by a Navi in the middle of downtown, and--"

"What?!" Both scientists instantly turned around in shock, as Lan exhaled, partly frustrated, partly relieved that he finally had his father's attention.

"It was this ice Navi," Dex jumped in, stepping forward. "He just appeared out of nowhere and-"

"Appeared where?" Yuichiro asked, trying to clarify. "On the Net? Or..."

Lan shook his head. "He was downtown! On the street! And he had this crystal, and it looked a lot like a Dark Chip..."

"Oh, this is bad." Regal pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is very bad... Yuichiro, you have to come and see this building, right away."

Yuichiro nodded, turning toward the children. "You three, come with us. You can explain what happened on the way there." They nodded, following after a speed-walking Dr. Regal as they moved toward the SciLab parking garage.

* * *

"...and then he just disappeared, into thin air," Dex concluded.

"He sort of fizzled out, like a TV with a bad picture," Lan contributed, talking to his father in the passenger seat, as Dr. Regal drove them toward the outskirts of Den City.

"Bizarre..." Yuichiro muttered, taking it all in. "You have anything to add, Mayl? You've been pretty quiet back there."

Mayl shook her head. "No, sir." While she could have said everything the two boys had, the whole business of what was going on with Forte and Dark Chips made her very uncomfortable, and she was trying not to think about it too hard. He nodded in response, and she continued looking out the window.

"This has to be Forte's doing," he mused. "It's way too similar to what happened earlier this week with the viruses. But how on Earth did he pull that off? A Navi wandering around in the real world, almost no restrictions at all?"

"My guess is that it's related to our Cross Fusion technology," Regal offered. Lan blinked and sat up, wondering what he was talking about.

"How do you figure?" Yuichiro responded. "We're not anywhere near that stage yet, and..." His voice trailed off, and he leaned forward, staring at something that had just entered his vision. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

The three kids in the back all followed his gaze, trying to see what he was looking at, which came into view as they passed a large building. A short distance ahead, they could see a large, glowing, multicolored dome that appeared to be surrounding a laboratory. It seemed to be compromised of a number of hexagons, like a beehive, and the rainbow colors on its surface flowed and swirled about.

"We discovered it less than an hour ago," Regal explained. "And inside, there are a number of research machines running."

"But that's..." Yuichiro struggled to find words for a moment, in utter disbelief. "How could he get it to be so large? And it's not faltering at all!"

"Wow..." Mayl sat up, getting a better look. "What is that, Dr. Hikari?"

"It's..." Yuichiro struggled for a second to answer without cursing in frustration, as Regal pulled the car into the lot where the building was located. "It's a Dimensional Area. I don't know how it's here." Both scientists quickly unbuckled their seatbelts.

"A Dimensional Area? What's that?" Lan asked, keeping his eyes on the rainbow dome.

"Hold on, I have to check this out." The two adults got out of the car and walked toward the glowing dome, and the children quickly followed. Dr. Regal and Dr. Hikari started examining it, Regal holding his PET close to it to perform some sort of data collection, as Lan, Mayl and Dex looked up at the massive structure.

"Do you think it's okay to touch it?" Dex wondered. Lan glanced over at his father, who was pounding on it with his fist. Taking this as a sign in the affirmative, he walked up to the dome and put his palm out on it, feeling a mild electric charge run up his arm.

"Yowch!" He drew his hand back quickly, as the other two watched. "It's like an electric shock!"

"Really? Let me see!" Dex ran up to the Dimensional Area and touched his finger to it, yelping and immediately withdrawing his arm as well. "Whoa! Now my arm's all tingly!"

Mayl walked right up to the edge of the dome, looking up at it. "What does it do?" she wondered aloud. "Does it have something to do with Navis? Isn't that what your dad does?"

"Yeah, he does Navi research, mostly," Lan answered. "What could they do outside of the Net, though?"

"Graagh!" They all turned to see Dr. Hikari kick the Dimensional Area out of anger. "I can't believe this! He didn't just steal our technology, he's improved upon it! He's smarter than we are!"

"This is what Dr. Cossack was telling us about..." Regal added. "His intelligence is extraordinary, but I never really believed a Navi's mind could really be superior to ours."

Lan's father rested his head in his palm, as Lan walked over curiously. "Dad, what exactly is this? What does a Dimensional Area do?"

Yuichiro took a deep breath and let it out, needing a moment before answering. "Okay, do you remember the Alpha Incident, where I wished we could make something like that happen in a lab?" Lan nodded, and his father continued. "Well, that's what we did. We reverse-engineered what happened and we were able to recreate it. We created a space where executable programs could manifest a physical form and enter the real world."

"Computer programs in the real world?" Mayl looked back at the Dimensional Area. "But... how is that even possible?"

"I'll be honest, Mayl: I don't know. We know how to do it, but we don't know why it works. We're still studying that. Science is weird sometimes."

"So this thing can bring Navis in the real world?" Dex suddenly adopted a fearful expression. "Does that mean... Forte could be in this building right now?"

Dr. Hikari nodded slowly. "Yes and yes. And this would explain how your ice Navi appeared downtown earlier. It seems like Forte is doing his own research, based on our technology, and he's doing it on SciLab property to boot."

"So how do we stop him?" Lan turned back to his father. "Do we cut off power to the building or something?"

"Each of these laboratories has generators inside that can power it for a long time," Regal replied. "I doubt we can cut power to it long enough for it to make a difference. Forte will certainly find a way to bring the power back."

"We're not going to figure this out here." Yuichiro turned back toward their vehicle. "We need to get back to SciLab to figure out our next steps." Lan followed closely behind his father, hopping into the back seat of the car. Mayl entered and sat next to him, eyeing him with concern, worried that he was going to get himself into more danger trying to stop whatever was happening.

* * *

For most of the trip back, Regal and Yuichiro tossed ideas back and forth, to no avail. The three children sat in the back, having essentially nothing to contribute, though Lan and Dex listened in anyway.

"...I'm not sure that will work, and I'm not sure I want to try," Regal spoke, shooting down another of his partner's ideas. "We've never successfully broken through a Dimensional Area barrier. If we try to do so, we might cause all sorts of damage to the surrounding area." Lan sighed, realizing their conversation was going nowhere, and tuned out. Looking down toward his PET, he noticed he had received an e-mail from Princess Pride, with whom he had been corresponding regularly; he turned away from the others so he could read it with some privacy.

"What if..." Regal pondered. "What if that Dimensional Area were to intersect with another? How does the barrier handle collisions like that?"

"I have no... huh." Yuichiro thought to himself for a minute. "That might work, actually... I think the hexagon design might make that work. The problem is, we wouldn't be able to make a portable area large enough for any more than one or two people to enter. It wouldn't be safe going in with that few people."

Regal turned into the parking garage at the rear of the main SciLab building, driving down to a lower level where employee parking was located. As he approached the bottom of the slope, a powerful sensation suddenly made everyone sit up straight, as if a jolt had shot through them. It was as though some sort of static charge had filled the air, making it come alive.

"What the..." Yuichiro turned around, and the three youngsters followed his gaze. Outside the entrance to the garage, the sky seemed to have become a glowing rainbow of colors, one they recognized far too well.

"Is that a Dimensional Area, too...?" Lan asked quietly, already knowing the answer, but hoping against hope that he was wrong.

"What... that... shouldn't even be possible..." His father was dumbstruck, a rarity for him. "How... and who...?"

Regal had stopped the car, turning around himself and looking back at the hexagonal shell of the Dimensional Area. "Our generators shouldn't even be able to create a field that large... unless they've been modified, or tampered with..."

Yuichiro's hands gripped his seat tightly, as he quickly came to grips with what was happening. "There's only one person who could do something like that without us knowing... which means all of SciLab has been compromised by Forte..."

The last sentence weighed down oppressively on everyone in the car, as they all grappled with the ramifications. The quiet cyber war against Forte had entered a radical and dangerous new phase, and he had made a powerful first strike that they were unequipped to answer. They all continued to stare quietly at the rainbow dome that now encased the building, before Dr. Hikari spoke again.

"We need to get those generators shut down, immediately. I don't want to find out what he's planning." He turned to look at his partner in the driver's seat. "Give me your PET. I need to get in touch with Iris."

Regal nodded, pulling out his PET and handing it to Dr. Hikari, who immediately tried contacting Iris about the generators. Lan, Mayl and Dex all kept their eyes behind them, on the Dimensional Area that had formed around the building, as Regal started driving again.

"Why is this happening?" Mayl asked to no one in particular, visibly frightened. "This really is a nightmare, one I can't wake up from..."

"This kind of stuff always seems so much cooler on TV," Dex commented, also frightened, though trying his best to not appear so. "But when it's really happening to you, it's just... scary." Lan nodded in response, the only one of the three not panicking.

"Ugh, nothing. Communications are blocked." Yuichiro returned Regal's PET, as Regal drove right up to the elevators. "We'll just have to go and turn them off ourselves." He unbuckled himself and stepped out of the now-stationary vehicle, as everyone else followed suit. Lan rushed up to the elevator and started to hammer the call button, but his father shook his head.

"Forget that, that's going to be too slow." He walked over toward the stairs. "It's only on the second floor, we can walk." Lan nodded, walking next to his father as both of them started ascending, only to suddenly be stopped by a hand from behind.

"Look out!" Regal cried out as he yanked both Hikaris off of the stairs. A couple seconds later, everyone jumped back as a large, gray Heavy virus slammed down in front of them, destroying the stairs on its way down.

"A virus?!" Mayl took several trembling steps backward, her panic starting to grow by leaps and bounds. "What... why..."

"Gah, hell..." Dr. Hikari quickly moved himself out of the stairwell, grabbing Lan's arm and pulling him along. Once they were safely away, he let out a relieved sigh, before looking down at his son, who was still goggling at the virus that had destroyed the stairs. After a moment, he nodded and started digging through his vest pocket, having come to a conclusion he hadn't wanted to face; right now, however, they didn't have a choice. As his hands closed around what he was searching for, the gentle sound of a bell caused everyone to look toward the elevator, as the doors slowly opened, sooner than they had expected. Mayl quickly scrambled inside, and Lan started to follow her instinctively.

"Hey, wait!" Yuichiro called out, as Lan's arm slipped out of his grasp. He was worried about everyone getting into an elevator, after what had just happened to the stairs.

"Hold it right there," a voice called out from behind them. Everyone quickly turned around to find themselves faced with a familiar ice-blue Navi, the rainbow light of the Dimensional Area shining through the crystals that made up his body.

Frostman smirked. "How convenient... everybody I need to talk to, gathered right here for me." His eyes traveled from Dex, to Dr. Regal, to Dr. Hikari, and finally settled on Lan, who took a step back toward the elevator as its door started to close. "You're all too kind."

Moving quickly, Yuichiro took a step back and shoved Lan backward through the doors as hard as he could. He collided hard with the back wall of the elevator car, holding the now-sore spot where his father had pushed him, as the door slowly closed. Thinking fast, he stepped forward and slammed his fist on the button for the top floor, trying to get Mayl and himself as far away from the Navi as he could manage. He breathed a small sigh of relief as the car started moving, taking the two children away from their aggressor.

Back on the ground floor, Yuichiro was staring down the advancing Frostman, stepping in front of Dex in a meager attempt to protect him. "You must be the Navi who tried to hurt these three earlier. You're not going to lay a hand on them, you hear me?"

Frostman laughed. "What exactly do you think you could do to stop me if I tried?" He glided forward, leaving a trail of ice behind him. "Fortunately for them, I'm not here for those children. The one I'm interested in is you, Dr. Hikari... you and your partner over there."

He smirked. "I have some questions about your work, and you're going to give me answers."

* * *

In the elevator, Lan was resting his head against the elevator wall, breathing hard and still holding the spot where his father had pushed him, which was starting to become distractingly painful. Beside him, Mayl had progressed from fearful panic to complete and total meltdown. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she began hyperventilating, clutching at her bangs.

"Oh God..." she spoke aloud to no one, unable to catch her breath. "We're trapped... viruses... Navis... Forte..." Tears leaked out of her eyes, as her mind tried and failed to process everything that was going on, overwhelmed. "They're going to... we're all going to...!"

"Would you shut up for a minute?!" Lan snapped, stressed nearly to his breaking point. Mayl jumped, shocked, as she turned to face him, his voice managing to cut through her panic. "I'm trying to think about what to do... just stop freaking out for ten seconds..."

As his mind raced, he suddenly realized that the hand holding his stomach was also holding something else. Looking down at his palm, he saw a strange Battlechip unlike anything he'd seen before. His father must have handed it off to him discreetly.

"W... what's that?" Mayl inquired, kneeling next to him, starting to come back down to Earth. Lan held it up between his thumb and forefinger, inspecting it carefully. It had a small number of circuits adorning its surface, and in its center was what seemed to be a circle of green plastic or glass.

"I'm not sure..." Both of them stared at the mysterious Battlechip, as the elevator continued upward to the top floor of SciLab.


	6. Cross Fusion

On the eighth and topmost floor of SciLab, two standard-issue black Navis were standing guard, extremely bored, their attention wandering.

"Hm?" One turned to the other.

"What?" the other Navi replied.

"You say something?"

"Why would I say anything?" The other Navi looked over.

"I don't know. I heard a noise that sounded like you saying something."

"I didn't say anything. Why would I say something? We're supposed to be standing guard for intruders, not chatting." The Navi rolled his eyes. "Now shut up and pay attention."

Both Navis returned to staring at opposite sides of the room. In a conveniently unguarded corner far from the two guards, two young children sat crouched behind a desk, having gotten off the elevator in an adjacent area.

"Two Navis keeping guard... not very well, though," Lan muttered to himself, as Mayl listened. "That ice Navi isn't alone... damn it, I should have sent us to the second floor."

"The second floor? With the generators?" Mayl asked; she had regained some measure of composure after her short breakdown in the elevator.

He nodded in response. "Right. If we can get them turned off, that'll take care of all of this."

"Maybe..." She sat back and took a deep breath, trying to think as clearly as Lan was, a task she found to be difficult. "But... there are going to be Navis guarding them, too, don't you think? If they're that important?"

"Yeah, probably..." Lan rubbed his head. "Maybe if we create some sort of diversion, or something... ugh, why is it always me being put in these situations?"

"Lan, how are you not freaking out right now?" Mayl marveled. "I mean, we're trapped alone in this building, and there are viruses and Navis everywhere, and you're just... you don't look scared at all..." She looked over at him, holding a newfound respect and admiration for her friend, as he sat back and sighed.

"I don't really know," he spoke. "I mean, I am scared, but I don't really think about it. My mind just sort of blocks it out, like... like there isn't time to be afraid, I guess."

She smiled gently, despite the situation. "Well, at least one of us has a cool head right now."

"Yeah... I just wish it would work right." He looked down at the strange chip he was holding between his fingers. "Darn it, Dad, why did you give me this..."

She leaned in for a closer look. "Should you try using it with your PET?"

Lan's face turned skeptical. "Well, if it's a Battlechip, it would only work if Megaman was on the Net... but if it's not... but what else could it even be?"

"It couldn't hurt to try, could it?"

"I suppose not." Lan put the mystery chip up to the slot on his PET. "Alright, here we go, I guess." He started to insert it into the device, when another hand intervened, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him up. Mayl shrieked and scrambled backward as she saw one of the guard Navis apprehend Lan, not noticing that another was waiting right behind her.

"Look what we got here!" the second Navi said aloud, causing her to whirl around. "A couple of little brats snooping around!"

"Let me go!" Lan exclaimed, kicking at the Navi that was holding him, as the other reached down and grabbed Mayl by the wrist.

Lan's Navi laughed. "Sure thing, kid!" He handily threw Lan across the room, where he rolled across the floor a few times before hitting the opposite wall.

"What do you think we should do with 'em?" the second Navi asked, keeping a tight grip on Mayl's wrist as she struggled to get away.

"We're supposed to keep all humans away from the second floor and below. Those are all the instructions we got," his comrade replied. "No one said we couldn't use them for target practice." He advanced on Lan, who slowly got to his feet. As he stood up, he accidentally brushed his PET against his hip, inserting the mystery chip the rest of the way into the chip slot.

Instantly, a powerfully bright light emitted from the device, one that quickly encompassed Lan's body and blinded everyone in the room, forcing them to shield their eyes with their arms. As Lan squinted and looked away, he could feel his PET start to grow and expand, as if it was emitting a strange substance that threatened to consume his entire body. As the substance expanded and enveloped him, he could feel a strong energy growing inside him, from his core, as if he was being charged with electricity.

When the light faded a moment later, the others in the room carefully uncovered their eyes, gaping in unison at what they saw. Lan had been covered head-to-toe with a dark blue bodysuit, with white stripes running down his back and around his legs. His head, hands and feet were covered in armor of a lighter blue color, with a green visor covering his eyes. The sudden change of appearance made him look very much like another person they all knew.

"What the hell? Isn't that Megaman?" one Navi asked, as the other inadvertently loosened his grip on Mayl. Seizing the opportunity, she tried to scramble away.

"Hey! No you don't!" the Navi yelled, moving to apprehend her again. Lan's eyes flashed as he saw this, and he promptly dashed forward toward the two of them, with such incredible speed that he was nearly invisible as he moved. He reappeared between Mayl and the astonished Navi, who didn't have time to say a word before Lan's right hand turned into a sword, which he promptly thrust into the Navi's abdomen. The enemy crumpled to the floor as Lan withdrew the blade, lying lifelessly on the ground.

Without pausing, Lan whirled around and fired a Cannon from his left hand at the unsuspecting other Navi, who stumbled backward. He deftly leaped over a shocked Mayl, who yelped and ducked instinctively, and used his sword to cleanly bisect the second Navi, whose two halves collapsed to the ground. Breathing heavily, Lan suddenly became aware of his surroundings again, as he slumped against the desk they had been hiding behind.

"What... just happened...?" he muttered to himself, looking down to inspect the weaponry that had formed on the ends of his arms; moments later, they vanished, and his hands returned. He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times, as Mayl warily got to her feet, not sure if she could get closer. "I can move again..."

"What do you mean...?" Mayl asked quietly, her mind only half-focused on the question as she looked over Lan's mysterious new armor. "That wasn't you moving just now?"

"No, it wasn't... it's like something took control of me..."

_I think that might have been me,_ Megaman's voice rang in Lan's head, causing him to jump. _I saw you and Mayl, and those Navis, and I just leaped into action..._

"Megaman?" Lan looked around quickly for his Navi, causing Mayl to back away, before realizing the voice was in his head. "Where are you? Are you... in my head or something?"

"In your head..." Mayl took a moment to try and process all the information in front of her, before realization suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. "Lan, I think I get it! This is that Cross Fusion that your dad was talking about! That chip he gave you, it let you do this!"

"Cross Fusion... hey, you might be right!" Lan stood up again, taking a better look at himself; he definitely looked a great deal like Megaman, and if Megaman was in his head... "We must be sharing the same body or something... but how is that possible?"

Mayl rapped her fist lightly against Lan's head, investigating his helmet. "I don't know... I don't know how any of this is possible. I feel like I'm going to wake up any minute."

Lan brushed her hand away. "It doesn't matter how it's possible. What matters is that we can fight back now. We're not helpless." He looked down at himself again. "I just hope we're strong enough to fight whatever's between us and those generators."

_We've got this, Lan_ , Megaman reassured. _You operate, I fight, just like usual. I'm sure it'll work out fine._

Lan nodded and looked around the room, his eyes focusing on the elevator they had departed from earlier. "Come on, we have to get to the second floor." He walked back toward it, motioning for Mayl to follow; she quickly ran after him, prepared to stick to him like glue. Reaching the elevator, Lan pressed the call button, expecting the doors to immediately open. Instead, he heard the car starting to move from the other side, and his eyebrows raised in surprise, wondering who else might be using the elevator. Once the doors opened, he could see a mysterious black device inside, one that he only had an instant to look at, as it emitted a high-pitched beeping sound.

"Look out!" Lan cried, putting his arms up defensively, as Mayl quickly got behind him, shielding herself as best as she could manage. Moments later, the mystery device exploded violently, sending a massive amount of flames and shrapnel in the direction of the two youngsters. The blast subsided quickly as smoke started pouring out of the elevator car, causing the fire alarm to go off and the automatic sprinkler system to activate. The water quickly began to clear the smoke, revealing an unscathed Lan and Mayl hidden behind a translucent green barrier. Lan lowered the barrier and his arms a moment later, taking a look at the elevator, as did Mayl, who had a death grip on Lan's torso and her heart rate around hummingbird pace. The elevator had been reduced to a smoldering piece of wreckage, black and burnt and twisted.

"I guess... we're taking the stairs," he managed.

* * *

As Frostman and his three hostages traversed the third floor of SciLab, they felt the building rumble around them, as they heard what sounded like an explosion from above. All of them looked upward toward the sound.

"What was that?!" Dex exclaimed. "Did something blow up?!"

Frostman smirked. "If I had to guess, I'd say the other two children got the present I sent them."

"What?!" Yuichiro responded. "What present?!"

"Just something I sent them in the elevator." Frostman continued leading the group forward. "I imagine they didn't get to enjoy it for long."

Yuichiro gritted his teeth in anger, praying that Lan had figured out to use the Synchro Chip he had given to him. He continued to follow Frostman with his stomach in knots, as did Dr. Regal and Dex, until they all walked into a large office that the two scientists knew well.

"Right, then." Frostman turned around, facing the others. "This is your office, Dr. Hikari, I believe?"

Lan's father glared back at the Navi. "Do I want to know how you knew that?"

"Master Forte provided me with a highly detailed map of this whole complex. He knows the layout like the back of his hand."

"What are we doing here?" Dr. Regal asked. He was suddenly deeply concerned with the level of SciLab knowledge that Forte possessed, but knew there were more pressing matters at hand.

Frostman kept his gaze on Dr. Hikari. "You are going to retrieve the missing data for the Cross Fusion project, and give it to me."

"Missing data?" Yuichiro put on his best poker face, cocking his head. "What missing data?"

"Don't bother playing dumb," the Navi warned. "All of the research data on Cross Fusion is present in the SciLab database, except for one critical chunk that has been conspicuously cut out. Master Forte has deduced that this data is being kept somewhere in SciLab. I thought we could start our search here, in this office."

Dr. Hikari didn't respond, trying to figure out some other way of stalling, as his coworker spoke up next to him. "What does he need that data for, anyway? Clearly he can make a Dimensional Area without it."

"Of course he can," Frostman replied. "He is one of the greatest geniuses of our time. But that missing data will greatly speed up the process of creating the world's first Dimensional Core."

Both scientists froze at the mention of the core, shocked, causing the Navi to laugh. "Seems as though you both know what I'm talking about, so let's drop the charade. Get me that missing data."

Dr. Regal eventually set his face and glared back at the Navi in front of him. "Forget it. We're not giving you anything, ever."

"Are you sure about that?" Frostman raised his arm into the air, gathering a large number of ice particles above it, which eventually formed into a rotary saw that began to spin at a high speed. He pointed the blade in Regal's direction, one eyebrow raised.

Regal nodded, determination on his face. "I've faced far more terrifying things than you. Do your worst."

"Alright, if you insist." The Navi turned and lunged forward quickly, grabbing Dex by the wrist and pulling him away from the other two. The scientists gasped as Dex yelped, struggling to get free, but he abruptly stopped as Frostman slowly brought the whirling blade closer to his neck.

"Stop that!" Regal demanded, panicked. "Let him go!"

"You're the one who told me to do my worst, Regal." Frostman brought the blade closer and closer. Dex started to panic and sweat bullets, but dared not move a muscle as the saw came within mere centimeters of his neck.

"Alright, stop! You win!" Yuichiro shouted. "Just let him go!"

Frostman smirked and looked over at Dr. Hikari. "I knew you'd see sense eventually." The blade disappeared and he let go of Dex, who sank to the floor, breathing heavily and holding his neck. "Now then, if you please."

Dr. Hikari's hands were tightly clenched into fists as he turned and walked toward one of the back corners of the room, where a small refrigerator sat next to a table with a coffee pot. He grabbed the refrigerator and dragged it forward a few feet, before kneeling down and lifting a loose floor tile that had been previously covered up. Everyone watched as he reached inside the hole in the floor, pulling out a small flash drive.

Frostman's eyes lit up. "So that's it, then?"

"This is half of it," Yuichiro clarified, standing. "The other half is in the Cross Fusion experiment lab." He started to walk toward the door of the office, but Frostman quickly glided in front of him.

"I'll lead the way there, if you don't mind. I'll make sure we don't take the scenic route." He looked back toward Dex and Dr. Regal. "Come along, everyone." Everyone began following the Navi out of the room, with Dex still lightly holding his neck, as if he was forcibly keeping it attached to the rest of him. As the three of them walked down the hallway, a device on Frostman's side started beeping quietly; he grabbed it and brought it to his mouth.

"I thought I told you cretins not to contact me," he began sharply. The voice on the other end spoke something that the others couldn't understand, but whatever it was incensed Frostman greatly.

"Is this some sort of joke?! Two guards?! You people are pathetic!" he yelled. "Get more Navis on it, then! They're two children, this shouldn't be difficult!"

He slammed the device back onto his hip, grumbling, as Yuichiro smirked, thankful that Lan had figured out the Synchro Chip after all. If he knew his son, Frostman was going to have much more difficulty than he anticipated.

* * *

Several floors above, Lan and Mayl were cautiously descending a flight of metallic stairs reminiscent of a fire escape, similar to the ones that had been destroyed by viruses minutes ago. Lan led the way, constantly looking over the railing for any signs of trouble; Mayl followed behind, once again scared out of her wits. The elevator bomb had completely eliminated the hopefulness she felt after seeing Lan's transformation, and she was nearly shaking with terror as she followed behind him.

"I think we got lucky," Lan commented. "They probably think we're dead from that bomb. No one's even looking for us right now."

"Oh yes, great," Mayl replied sarcastically. "Everyone thinks we're dead, that's just fantastic!"

"Mayl, please calm down." Lan glanced back at her.

"I can't, Lan, I can't!" she cried out, starting to break down again. "We're going to die here, I know it! We're going to..." A sob escaped her lips.

He turned around and walked back up to her, grasping her arm lightly and looking her in the eyes. "Mayl, listen to me. Nobody is going to be dying here, not if I have anything to say about it. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise. Okay?"

She looked back at him, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and nodded slowly, unable to speak. Lan nodded back and continued down the stairs, holding her gently by the wrist; she followed, appreciating his touch and trying to place her confidence in him. They continued down another flight, not far now from the second floor, when Lan noticed something coming up from below.

"Mettools... lots of them, walking up the stairs," he observed. He formed a buster on his left hand and started firing, deleting the viruses one by one. "Not exactly a major threat, thankfully..." As he fired at the marching line of viruses, he was taken by surprise when a round of ammunition blew past his head.

"Whoa!" He backed away from the ledge, quickly pulling Mayl behind him to keep her out of the line of fire. He looked down the stairs and saw two black Navis firing High Cannons in his direction from three floors below.

"Damn, they're organizing. This is going to be tricky..." Lan formed a Vulcan Cannon on his wrist and aimed downward, firing the machine gun upon the two Navis, who took light damage but continued to attack regardless. Cursing, Lan summoned a few Minibombs and flung them toward his opponents; they both jumped backward into the room behind them, but still were caught in the explosions, receiving some more damage.

"That'll show them." He turned his attention back to the viruses, and the color promptly drained from his face. During his brief skirmish with the Navis, the Mettool army had made their way right up to the step where Lan and Mayl were, and they were starting to crackle dangerously with electricity. He quickly aimed and fired his buster, taking out as many of the near ones as he could, before the Mettools all self-destructed at once.

Instantly, the stairwell was turned into flaming chaos, as the metal stairs twisted and cracked in many areas, and fell right apart in several others. The step that the two children were on quickly bent under their weight, pitching them forward, screaming, toward the ground several floors below. Thinking quickly, Lan summoned an Air Shot chip and fired a blast of air down at the ground, slowing his descent and allowing him to land himself on the only steady stairs he could find. He instantly whirled around and caught a terrified Mayl in his arms, then ducked backward into the adjacent room to avoid the fall of flaming wreckage.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worried, as he set her down, hearing yet another fire alarm and sprinkler system activate. She nodded wordlessly, breathing heavily and holding one hand over her heart, the other hand clasped tight around Lan's.

"They're down here!" Lan heard a voice call out from further inside the large room, which was filled with a number of test tubes and other materials. He looked toward the source of the noise, and saw a large number of black Navis, around two dozen, pouring into the room from another door. "Get everyone in here! He can't take on all of us!" He gritted his teeth and flattened the two of them against the wall, as Navis started firing light arms in his direction.

"Looks like this is it," he commented. "This is all of them. I take them out, there's nothing between us and the generators."

"You're going to fight all of them?!" Mayl exclaimed, as Lan formed a sword on his arm. "Are you crazy?!"

"Probably!" he responded, running out into the room and forming another sword. She started to race after him, wanting to grab him and pull him back, only to run into the Barrier that had just been erected around her. She watched, horrified, as Lan dashed right into the fray, seemingly to his doom.

"Let's see how you guys like this!" he yelled, putting his two swords together and swinging horizontally with all his might. The resulting Life Sword was truly enormous, far greater than anything Lan and Megaman had generated before. It swept through the room, smashing equipment and slicing through every single Navi present before hitting the back wall and cracking it. He screeched to a halt, staring in shock at his handiwork, not having expected the fight to end so quickly.

"Holy cow... was that me?" he wondered aloud.

_I've never seen anything like that,_ Megaman contributed. _Why was it so powerful? Do you think it was the Cross Fusion?_

"It might have been." Lan looked down at his hand. "It was a lot easier to pull off, too. Maybe it's because we're really synchronized right now..."

"Lan, that was incredible!" Mayl exclaimed, running up to him as the Barrier disappeared. "I've never seen anything like that before!"

He grinned at her. "I told you I'd take care of things, didn't I?" He reached down and clasped her wrist again. "Come on, we have to keep moving. We're almost there." Mayl nodded, feeling better about the situation after witnessing Lan's capabilities, and they both ran out of the room, looking for another set of stairs, ready for this insanity to end.

* * *

On the second floor of SciLab, Yuichiro was walking around the outside of a large open room, his hand on the wall, feeling for something. The others watched as he searched, eventually stopping and pushing his hand against the wall; it shifted and opened the tiniest bit, and he reached his hand inside the newly created crevice, pulling something out.

"This is it." He closed the wall again, walking back over to Frostman, another flash drive enclosed in his hand. "All of the missing data on Cross Fusion, which we hid away specifically to avoid things like this."

"Too bad it didn't work out," Frostman apologized mockingly, taking the second drive from Dr. Hikari. Holding one drive in each hand, he closed his eyes and focused quietly for about thirty seconds, as the other three watched with increasing discomfort.

The Navi soon opened his eyes again, smirking. "There. I have now completely absorbed the contents of these drives. Once I return to Master Forte, my knowledge will become his." He clenched both of his fists tightly, crushing the drives into small pieces before letting them drop to the floor. "You've been most helpful, Dr. Hikari."

"Yeah, that's me," Yuichiro answered bitterly. "Are you done here?"

"Almost. There's only one thing left for me to take care of." He stretched out his right arm, forming a Long Sword, causing the three humans to reflexively step back. "I just need to ensure that Master Forte is the only one with the knowledge to create a Dimensional Core."

"Whoa, wait a minute here! Hold on!" Yuichiro exclaimed, starting to quickly run backwards with the other two, but an icy blast of air from Frostman knocked him into his back. He tried to scramble away as the Navi advanced on him.

"If it helps, Master Forte always spoke of you as a genius. He even referred to you as his intellectual rival." Frostman put his foot on Yuichiro's abdomen and raised his sword. "Let that be some comfort to you as you move on to your next life." He brought his sword down, and the two others turned their heads, unable to watch.

Expecting to hear Frostman's sword cut through flesh, they were surprised to hear instead a clash of metal on metal. Dr. Regal and Dex looked back, to find what appeared to be Megaman standing over Dr. Hikari, blocking Frostman's blade with one of his own.

"Megaman? What the?!" Dex exclaimed.

"Lan! You're alright!" Yuichiro looked up at his son, relieved and immensely proud, as Lan kept his focus on the opposing Navi in front of him.

"Dad! Get back!" he ordered, elbowing Frostman in the gut and knocking the Navi away from his father. He leaped after his foe, swinging his blade, but Frostman quickly moved backward to dodge. Yuichiro took the opportunity to scramble away, and Regal and Dex followed him.

"How are you still alive?!" Frostman demanded. "I sent dozens of viruses and Navis after you!"

"You should have sent better ones!" Lan taunted, swinging his sword again. The enemy Navi vanished, reappearing far above Lan, in the center of the room.

"Pah! It matters not!" he retorted. "This is as far as you go, Megaman! Allow me to introduce you to the ninth circle of Hell!"

As Frostman outstretched his arms, a cold blue mist began to spread from his body and expand and throughout the room; everything it touched quickly turned to crystal and ice, and as it accumulated it turned into an icy fog, becoming hard to see through. Regal, Yuichiro and Dex all looked around for some sort of escape, when they heard a voice calling out to them.

"Guys! Over here!" Looking toward the source of the voice, the three of them saw Mayl beckoning them into an open door. They quickly piled in through the opening and slammed the door shut, just before the icy mist frosted it over.

"Damn, that was close... thanks, Mayl," Yuichiro acknowledged. Mayl nodded in response, moving toward a nearby window that looked into the research-lab-come-arena; it was frosted over, but still mostly transparent. The others quickly followed to watch the action, but found it hard to see anything that wasn't close, due to the obscuring mist.

"What's going on?" Dex tried to find either the two figures in the fog. "Isn't that Megaman in there?"

"That's Lan and Megaman, Cross Fused," Dr. Regal replied. "Yuichiro must have handed him a Synchro Chip somehow, right?"

Yuichiro nodded. "At the time, I thought it was our only chance to get him out of here in one piece. Then he ends up saving all of us... bless that kid, he can certainly keep his head in situations like this."

Mayl nodded in agreement, as Dr. Regal spoke again. "I can't believe it actually worked. Only one other person has ever been able to Cross Fuse for more than five seconds."

"It's all about synchronization," Yuichiro responded. "And you know that you can't find an operator and Navi more in sync than Lan and Megaman." They watched as Lan approached the window, looking around cautiously, before quickly turning to block one of Frostman's attacks. The two battlers quickly disappeared again.

"Isn't there something we can do, Dr. Hikari?" Mayl asked, feeling guilty that Lan was continually being forced to do all the hard and dangerous work. "Do we just have to let them fight?"

"Yes, there is. We can still get those generators shut down," Regal answered for his partner, turning around.

"You do that." Dr. Hikari glanced over at his partner. "I'm going to stay here, in case anything goes wrong." Regal nodded and dashed off to another room, as Lan's father stayed by the window with the other two children, hoping to get a glimpse of the action.

* * *

"Gah, I'm getting nowhere like this," Lan muttered to himself, looking around. "I can't even see him 90% of the time..."

_The mist definitely has to go,_ Megaman agreed, a statement that was hardly necessary to make, as the two of them were operating in near-perfect tandem as it was. _What's your plan?_

"Air Shot's the fastest way," Lan commented, raising his left arm and focusing; a few seconds later, his Air Shot gun still hadn't appeared.

_Huh? Why isn't it working?_

"I don't know... I don't know how these stupid Battlechips work like this." Lan shook his head, listening for Frostman and trying to come up with a new plan, which he soon formulated. He pointed his hand up at the ceiling, where a Fan appeared and immediately began operating; it started to suck in the icy mist and expel normal cold air in its stead, and visibility in the room soon started to return to normal.

"Did it!" Lan looked around and quickly found his opponent fifteen feet away, firing off a series of buster shots that were easily dodged. He immediately used an Area Steal, dashing with blinding speed up to his opponent and swinging a Long Sword at Frostman's body. Frostman focused himself for an instant before the blade connected, upon touching the Navi's body, the sword shattered into dozens of pieces.

"What?!" Lan looked down at the broken blade, shocked. His foe smirked, before delivering a powerful kick to his jaw and knocking him back.

"You think such simple weapons are going to work on me?" Frostman taunted. "The air immediately surrounding my body is cold enough to freeze your swords instantly. You'll have to do better than that!"

Lan quickly got back up, rubbing his chin, and jumped to avoid an ice boulder flung in his direction. He extended his arm and tried to produce a Fire Sword, pleased to see that it managed to appear despite the icy surroundings. He landed on his feet and quickly swung at a number of icicles that Frostman had thrown in his direction; they melted upon contact with the aura of the sword, and the water splashed harmlessly around Lan's feet.

"Hmph!" Frostman smirked, hovering several meters in the air, and aimed his hands at Lan, forming hundreds of pointing icicles and shooting them toward his opponent. Lan skillfully swung his Fire Sword around at all of them, melting every last one. They kept this act up for nearly a full minute before Frostman finally relented, grinning.

"What's he up to?" Lan wondered, as he tried to take a step forward, nearly stumbling as his feet refused to cooperate. Looking down, he was horrified to see that the water from the icicles had fallen and re-frozen around his feet, burying them under several inches from ice, far too much to cut through in a short amount of time.

"You fool!" Frostman called out, extending his right arm and producing a massive, dual-ended ice scythe. "Too late do you realize your mistake! And now your life comes to a close!" The three observers panicked, as they saw the icy Navi speed toward the immobile Lan, ready to deliver the final blow.

"No! Lan!" Mayl cried out, as Yuichiro started slamming his fist on the glass in anger.

"Come on, Lan, you can think of something!" Dex said tensely, as if Lan was able to hear him there. Frostman approached with impressive speed, holding the scythe, as Lan gritted his teeth, not from frustration, but from focus.

"Come on, just a little closer, you arrogant bastard..." he muttered under his breath, his mind focused on something he had never tried before; Megaman was focused as well, attempting to be as in-sync with his operator as possible. Frostman was blissfully unaware of Lan's concentration, wrapped up in the heat of the moment.

"Now!" Lan cried out, holding his arms above his head. Almost immediately, from the single Fire Sword he was holding, two more swords quickly appeared and vanished just as fast, forming a giant red pillar of energy. He grasped the Life Sword 2 by its base and hurled it like a javelin with all his might.

Frostman saw the attack coming too late, as Lan had conceived it much too quickly for him. He put up his best defenses, unable to dodge, but the Life Sword 2 shattered them as if they were nothing, and embedded itself deeply in Frostman's torso. The Navi's eyes went wide as he felt his energy evaporate, stolen away by the powerful attack piercing his body, and he collapsed to the ground a few yards in front of Lan, his scythe vanishing. The blade vanished in a massive energy blast, tearing up Frostman's insides, sweeping across the room and cracking the ice that lined the ground. The Navi groaned in intense pain and humiliation, trying to catch his breath.

"For... forgive me, Forte... I failed..." Frostman closed his eyes and breathed his last, his body slumping against the ground. Lan sighed in relief, looking down at the cracked ice around his feet; a single buster shot was enough to shatter it completely, and he stepped away.

"Lan!" He looked over to see Mayl running at him, and she threw his arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "Thank goodness! You're alright!"

Lan nodded and held her with one arm, as the other two also left their safe haven and approached Lan. A moment later, they jumped back as a bright, purple light appeared next to Frostman's fallen corpse. When the light faded, a rather sinister-looking Navi was standing in its place, colored purple and black, with claws and pointed, overlarge ears, looking like a cross between a human and a bat.

"Pathetic... we expected more from you, Frostman," the Navi spoke in a raspy voice, as he reached down and grabbed the fallen Navi's frame by the arm.

"Hold it! Who are you?" Lan demanded, pointing his buster at the Navi with one arm and holding protectively onto Mayl with the other. The Navi cackled in response.

"I'm just here to pick up some damaged goods," he replied. "Lucky for us, Frostman's memory banks should be able to provide us with the information we need to get that Dimensional Core up and running."

"No!" Lan cried out, firing several buster shots at the Navi, who vanished with Frostman in a similar flash of light. Seconds later, everyone noticed a low-level humming sound around them starting to fade, and the ice in the room cleared away. Mayl yelped and jumped back as Lan's body glowed, only to see it return to normal, his PET attached to his hip as usual. He blinked and looked down at himself, surprised, as Dr. Regal came running the room.

"Finally got the generators off," he commented. "What happened?"

* * *

"Are you crazy?!" Yuichiro exclaimed. "Absolutely not! Out of the question!"

"We don't have any choice, Dad!" Lan responded. "If that weird Navi was right, then Forte can create a Dimensional Core soon! We can't just let him do that, can we?"

"No, of course we can't." His father rubbed his forehead. "But sending you into that research lab all by yourself? That's far too dangerous, Lan, even for you."

"He's right, Lan. Listen to him, please," Mayl urged, one of a few people on the sidelines of this argument. Lan shook his head.

"What's dangerous is letting Forte get his hands on something like that!" he retorted. "If he creates and absorbs a core, there's not going to be anybody who can stop him! We have to do something, and this is the only thing we can do right now. You know it is, Dad."

He looked up at his father, seeing the conflicted look on his face, knowing he had nearly won the argument. "I know you don't want me getting hurt, but there's nothing else we can do. I can take care of myself, I just proved that, didn't I?"

Yuichiro let out a deep sigh. "Lan... alright. You may be right. We don't have a lot of options right now."

"What?!" Mayl and Regal exclaimed at once, incredulous and angry, as Dr. Hikari turned to the two of them. Dex stood by himself elsewhere, not sure which side to take.

"Lan's right. Something has to be done. All we can do is send a small number of people into that Dimensional Area, and we're going to need people who can Cross Fuse. A Navi is more powerful and useful than any weaponry we could obtain." Yuichiro turned back toward his son. "But you aren't going to be going alone."

"Huh?" Lan blinked, as his father started to walk into another area. "Who else is going to be there?"

"The only other person who's been able to successfully Cross Fuse," his father commented, as Regal joined the three of them. "Eugene Chaud."

"Chaud?!" Lan exclaimed angrily, as the three walked into another room.

"But... wait! Hold on!" Mayl called out, starting to walk after them. The trio, either ignoring her or unable to hear her, didn't respond, and she stood and sadly watched them go. Dex walked over to her, feeling like he should say something but not knowing what, as she looked down at the floor.

"Lan..." she muttered to herself, confused and upset.


End file.
